LATIMER Hinks has appointed two new partners from within its private client team.

Elizabeth Armstrong and Natalie Palmer are both established, senior members of the Darlingtonbased firm’s team, specialising in wills, trusts, probate, inheritance and capital gains tax planning, and elderly client issues.

Durham University graduate Ms Armstrong joined the firm in 2005, having qualified in 1998, and manages its trust department.

She is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Step) and committee member of the North-East branch, as well as a student member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Ms Palmer, who studied at Sunderland and Northumbria universities, joined the firm in 2000 and qualified in 2007.

As well as being a member of Step, she is the North-East regional coordinator for Solicitors for the Elderly, a member of the Alzheimer’s Society Referral Panel and a trustee of Age UK Darlington.

Partner Anne Elliott said: “This is a firm which has always thrived on being a family-oriented practice, with multiple generations retaining our services. This means the area in which Elizabeth and Natalie have thrived, working closely with clients on issues which are involved and personal, is vital to our future and, as partners, they will be in a position to be at the forefront of that work.”