“Thorough and meticulous”
“Brilliant”
“Calmly dedicated to his clients”
Tom is a Partner and Mediator at Vaitilingam Kay and also a Deputy District Judge on the South Eastern circuit. He advises high net worth individuals and international families on the financial and children’s issues that arise on divorce and separation. He is ranked in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2026 for Family/Matrimonial Finance.
His practice centres on high-value divorce and civil partnership dissolution, cross-border financial disputes, and cases involving complex assets: trusts, family businesses, farming and landed estates, offshore interests and inherited wealth. He also advises on pre- and post-nuptial agreements for domestic and international clients. Alongside this, he advises on arrangements for children, including where they live and spend their time, and relocation disputes within and outside England and Wales.
Much of his work has an international dimension. He has acted in matters spanning the United States, France, Italy, the UAE, Russia and Bangladesh, coordinating parallel proceedings and working with foreign counsel to protect clients with assets and family ties around the world.
Tom is a member of the firm’s mediation team and of Resolution. He is committed to reaching constructive, cost-effective resolutions away from court where that is the right path for the client.
Tom qualified as a solicitor in 2014, joined Vaitilingam Kay in 2015 and became a Partner in 2022. He was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in 2026.
Highlights
- Advised, alongside New York counsel, on a pre-nuptial agreement for an American family with combined assets understood to exceed $1 billion, handling the English-law elements of a cross-border marital agreement.
- Undertook a lengthy High Court case involving nationals of significant wealth, where the assets were held through offshore trusts.
- Acted for the son of a peer in a financial remedy case involving substantial assets held through a family farming partnership, successfully resisting an argument that the parties’ pre-nuptial agreement should be set aside for undue pressure.
- Acted for the wife of a former Premier League footballer, in proceedings that included conduct arguments concerning high-value personal assets, including a substantial luxury watch collection.
- Acted for a wife in a financial remedy case requiring the analysis and fair division of her husband’s privately owned private equity business.
- Secured an urgent Hemain injunction in an international matter, preventing a husband from pursuing parallel proceedings in a foreign country.
- Successfully resisted, at first instance and on appeal, a husband’s application to terminate his client’s ongoing spousal maintenance.
- Acted in hard-fought children cases involving allegations of parental alienation, substance misuse and parental mental-health issues.
Professional Testimonials
Every year Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners compile independent recommendations based on client and peer reviews for all practising lawyers. These are some of Tom’s reviews and testimonials from other legal professionals.
Client Testimonials
These are some of Tom’s testimonials from previous clients.