Sarah Castle
Biography
Sarah Castle has been appointed as the Official Solicitor and Public Trustee and took up her post on 4 July 2019. Sarah is the first women to be appointed to the role of OS.
Sarah undertook articles with Kent County Council and moved to Berkshire County Council in 1997, practising primarily in child protection. The team is now established as the Joint Legal Team, a shared legal service hosted by Reading Borough Council, which specialises in child protection, adult social care and education, and which represents all of the unitary authorities in Berkshire: Reading (Brighter Futures for Children), Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire, Slough (Slough Children’s Services Trust), Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (Achieving for Children) and Wokingham. Sarah was been Team Principal of the team from 2012.
Sarah was born in Bedworth in Warwickshire and was educated at St Joseph’s Convent School in Kenilworth, St Mary’s College at Durham University and the College of Law in Chancery Lane.
Sarah lives in Oxfordshire with her husband, John, and two stepchildren.
Public Trustee
The Public Trustee administers trusts and estates where he has accepted appointment to do so and acts as:
- executor and administrator of the estates of the deceased
- trustee of trusts in the interests of vulnerable individuals or disabled people
- where there are differences between executors, trustees or beneficiaries
The Public Trustee also deals with the recording of applications for notice to quit under the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1994.
Official Solicitor
The Official Solicitor duties mainly relate to protecting the vulnerable in the justice system, in particular litigants who are children or young persons and those unable to conduct their own litigation due to lack of mental capacity.
The role is, however, wide and varied. See the full list of duties on our ‘About us’ page.