Trusts

The general answer is that Trusts are viewed as the best legal vehicles to provide ‘protection’ of the wishes contained in your Wills.  Trusts are ultimately the best attempt at ensuring safe passage of your estate to chosen beneficiaries on death or during lifetime and where possible protected against outside 3rd party attack.

Here is a basic list of the circumstances in which Trusts become relevant to consider:

• Ensuring succession – from spouse to spouse, then to children and then to grandchildren and down family lines.
• Protecting your estate from third-party claims or attack on the assets passed to a beneficiary.
• Where estate passes to children, avoiding potential claims from a son-in-law or daughter-in-law on a marriage break-up or from outside parties.
• If you are giving money to charity, how best to structure payments and whether a trust may be suitable.
• Planning for Inheritance Tax (for children) and to ensure that beneficiaries receiving an estate of significant value have the option for keeping the value outside of their own estates for IHT purposes and other purposes, such as 3rd party claim or attack.
• Ensuring that the Will is ‘claim-proof’ in the event of queries on mental capacity or undue influence. (flexible trust Wills are less likely to be challenged, assuming they are correctly drawn up by an experienced advisor.)

There is a due process of ensuring the correct advice is given, providing sufficient knowledge and understanding of the reasons and uses of Trusts and to ensure that the Trust structure contains adequate flexibility to cope with future changing legislation and family circumstances.  The plan is always to ensure that the best decisions are taken at the right time to ensure passing of assets to the chosen beneficiaries in the right manner according to your wishes.

We will guide you through this process with all the advice you need to make straightforward decisions.

URGENT NOTE/GUIDANCE 

Trust Registration requirements have been brought in by UK Government.  This will affect most ‘live’ Trusts.  Please see our guidance notes for further information.

A Review Plan for your Wills, Trusts & LPAs