Introduction
Charles Towl joined chambers in 2025 upon successful completion of his pupillage under the supervision of Gavin McLeod, David Nuttall, and Kirsty White.
Charles has quickly built a busy chancery practice spanning chambers’ core practice areas. He regularly provides advice and representation on the full range of issues arising in Private Client (contentious and non-contentious), Real Estate, Insolvency & Restructuring, and Commercial matters.
Before to coming to the Bar, Charles was a paralegal in Farrer & Co’s Contentious Trusts & Estates team, where he assisted on high-value, cross-border trusts and estates disputes. This included Inheritance Act and will validity claims, as well as civil fraud and trust restructuring matters. As a result, Charles is well versed in complex Chancery and Commercial litigation, particularly in relation to Private Client matters.
Examples of Charles’ current and recent matters include:
- Representing the successful Defendant at a 2-day will validity claim in the High Court
- Representing the successful Claimant at a 2-day multi-track possession trial in which the Defendant counterclaimed on the basis of proprietary estoppel and common intention constructive trust
- Representing a leading car manufacturer in defending an ongoing claim under the Consumer Rights Act 2015
Contentious Wills, Trusts, and Probate
Contentious Trusts & Estates
Charles is regularly instructed to advise and represent clients in all aspects of trusts and estates disputes, including:
- Probate claims, including validity challenges and rectification claims
- Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
- Applications to remove trustees
- Applications to remove executors under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1925
- Applications under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996
- Claims relating to constructive trusts and proprietary estoppel
- Applications for directions concerning the administration of trusts and estates
Examples of Charles’ recent contentious matters include:
- Representing the successful Defendant at a 2-day will validity trial in the High Court
- Successfully resisting an application for an interim payment under section 5 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
- Advising a trustee in respect of a proposed Part 64 application for directions regarding the scope of their indemnity
- Representing clients at mediation in respect of a proposed will validity challenge on the basis of lack of testamentary capacity, want of knowledge and approval, and undue influence
- Advising on and representing executors at applications under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act to remove or replace executors
- Assisting on an application under the Presumption of Death Act 2013 as part of the Birmingham Chancery Litigants in Person Scheme (during pupillage)
Non-contentious Private Client
Charles regularly advises clients in relation to wills, trusts and estates. He has advised trustees, personal representatives, and beneficiaries on a variety of issues, including questions of the validity, construction, and administration of instruments, the exercise of powers, and the consequences of retirement. Examples of his recent non-contentious matters include:
- Advising a trustee-executor on the construction and administration of a life interest will trust, following the death of a beneficiary
- Advising a lay trustee on the nature of a trust for the proceeds of a life insurance policy and on the effect of retirement / removal
- Advising on the late entry of an Appearance to a caveat
Charles regularly delivers seminars on a variety of private client topics and is happy to provide in-house training. He has been published in the Trusts & Trustees journal and is a contributor to the LexisNexis Private Client Expert series. In addition, Charles writes for Trust Issues, a new article series for Chambers looking at common issues in trust litigation. You can find the first article in this series, which provides a comprehensive guide to making Beddoe Applications, here.
Charles accepts instructions on a CFA and deferred fee basis.
Real Estate
Charles accepts instructions in all areas of property law. Charles is regularly instructed to advise and represent across both real property, and landlord and tenant matters. He has a particular interest in disputes concerning proprietary estoppel, constructive and resulting trusts, and the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.
Charles’ recent work in this area includes:
- Representing the successful Claimant in a 2-day multi-track possession trial in which the Defendant counterclaimed on the basis of proprietary estoppel and common intention constructive trust.
- Advising and representing the Claimant in a claim for a declaration of beneficial interest under TLATA in which a charging order over the Defendant’s interest had passed to the Crown as bona vacantia following the dissolution of the Defendant’s creditor.
- Representing a respondent landlord in the First-Tier Tribunal in a claim for a Rent Repayment Order.
- Regularly representing landlords, mortgagees, and debtors in a variety of possession proceedings.
Examples of work undertaken during pupillage include:
- Advising on the prospects of obtaining an order for sale under section 14 of TLATA in respect of a disputed family farm.
- Drafting a Defence and Counterclaim in a boundary dispute and adverse possession claim.
Charles regularly writes and delivers seminars in this area. Most recently, he produced an article for Chambers’ Lay of the Land series, looking at the Court of Appeal decision in Nazir v Begum [2025] EWCA Civ 587, which considered the relationship between adverse possession and statutory trusts of estate assets. You can find Charles’ article here.
Insolvency & Restructuring
Charles accepts instructions in all areas of Chambers’ Insolvency & Restructuring practice, including winding up and bankruptcy petitions, statutory demands, as well as associated interim and office-holder applications.
Examples of Charles’ recent work in this area includes:
- Representing Joint Liquidators in a remuneration application.
- Representing parties in winding up petitions including obtaining a substitution for supporting creditors, and successfully applying for a petition to be dismissed where liquidators had been appointed as part of a voluntary liquidation.
- Obtaining an order for transfer of proceedings up to the High Court for enforcement in respect of a bankrupt who had engaged in extensive vexatious litigation.
Charles recently delivered a seminar with Marc Brown on the recent Supreme Court decision of Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liquidation) v Tradition Financial Services Ltd [2025] UKSC 18 at Chambers’ annual Insolvency & Restructuring Conference.
Commercial & Chancery Litigation
Charles regularly advises on and provides representation at a range of procedural and interim applications, including applications for set aside of default judgments, strike out, and transfer to the High Court for enforcement.
Charles also represents clients at trial, as well as in applications in the First-Tier Tribunal, in relation to a variety of contractual and property disputes.
Examples of Charles’ current and recent work include:
- Representing the Claimant in a Fast Track trial for money claimed as a loan, where the Defendant alleged it to be made by way of a gift.
- Representing a landlord in the First-Tier Tribunal in resisting a claim for a Rent Repayment Order.
- Representing Defendants at a Fast Track trial in relation to quantum arising out of misrepresentations made in relation to a franchise agreement.
- Advising on and providing representation at a range of interim applications, including applications for set aside of default judgments and strike out.
Examples of work undertaken during pupillage include:
- Preparing an application for an urgent injunction to restrain the further use of confidential information by a former employee.
- Drafting Particulars of Claim in respect of a claim for breach of directors’ duties and wrongful trading.
- Representing a Defendant in respect of an alleged breach of an agency agreement in which the Judge found that no agreement had been reached.
- Representing a Claimant landlord in respect of damage caused during the course of a tenancy.
- Representing a Defendant in respect of unpaid invoices and a counterclaim based on the quality of works completed.
Commercial Fraud & Asset Tracing
Charles’ background in private wealth and trusts disputes means he is well-placed to advise in relation to commercial fraud and asset tracing claims, especially those relating to breach of trust, fiduciary duties, and restitution.
Charles’ current and recent work in this area includes:
- Advising a settlor in relation to the validity of, and possible means of challenging, a purported deed of trust.
- Drafting a Defence and Counterclaim in High Court proceedings involving breach of trust, unlawful receipt, and related claims.
Charles frequently delivers talks and seminars in this area, most recently on developments in the Supreme Court relating to fiduciary duties at St Philips Commercial Conference.
Qualifications
Bar Practice Course (Outstanding) – University of Law, Birmingham
LLM (Distinction) – University College London
LLB (First Class) – University of Leeds
Scholarships
Lord Denning Scholarship – Lincoln’s Inn
Head of School Module Prizes – University of Leeds
Publications
‘Gone Fishing: Legal Professional Privilege and Data Subject Access Requests in Trust Law (Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 352)’ (Case Note) (2020) 26 Trusts and Trustees 884
‘Donatio Mortis Causa and Suicide – An Anomaly within an Anomaly?’ (2018) 4 The Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 367
Appointments and Memberships
Chancery Bar Association
Contentious Trusts Association (ConTrA)
The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
