A barrister with a leading set of chambers has been appointed to the committee of a professional association which helps families plan for their future.

Claire van Overdijk, of No5 Barristers’ Chambers, is one of four new members to sit on the STEP Mental Capacity Global SIG Steering Committee.

STEP has 20,000 members across 95 countries and promotes best practice, professional integrity and education to its members. It has a number of Special Interest Groups, with the Mental Capacity SIG being established in 2010.
The group focuses on the increasing importance and relevance of issues concerning capacity in all aspects of legal work relating to inheritance and succession planning. It aims to ensure that all members are kept up to date with developments and are part of the debate and shaping the future where possible.

Claire was called to the Bar in 2003 and is Deputy Head of the Court of Protection group and member of the Estates, Trust and Tax Group at No5 Barristers’ Chambers. She specialises in mental capacity law and is the first practitioner at the UK Bar to date to be recommended in Chambers and Partners for both Court of Protection health/welfare and property/finance affairs.

She is a specialist in cross border mental capacity law and co-authored The International Protection of Adults which provides comparative analysis of mental capacity private international law rules around the globe, and the Hague Convention on the International Protection of Adults. She is also co-editor of Court of Protection Practice and Mental Capacity Law and Practice.

Claire said: “I am honoured to be given the opportunity to work with other professionals in this field and am fully committed to helping plan and deliver the SIG’s programme of activities with a view to further educating and promoting understanding of this area through its international work.”

Claire graduated from University College London in 2000, and after completing her pupillage began a tenancy with No5 in 2008, based at Chambers’ London office.

Claire is a member of the following groups at No5: Commercial LitigationCourt of ProtectionEstates, Trust and TaxInternational Arbitration and TradeJudicial Review / High Court Challenges, Property, and Public Law.