Setting up the right Trust for you and your family
Setting up a simple trust can ensure your loved ones benefit from your estate in the way you intended. A trust can also protect your family’s inheritance against increased tax liabilities, unnecessary care home fees and dilution of your estate. We can assess your needs and help set up a trust to suit the requirements of your estate. We will also advise on and administer the appointment of trustees.
What Trusts are for
Trusts are set up for a number of reasons, including:
• to control and protect family assets
• when someone’s too young to handle their affairs
• when someone can’t handle their affairs because they’re incapacitated
• to pass on assets while you’re still alive
• to pass on assets when you die (a ‘will trust’)
• under the rules of inheritance if someone dies without a will (in England and Wales)
Trusts and taxes
A trust is a way of managing assets (money, investments, land or buildings) for people. There are different types of trusts and they are taxed differently.
Trusts involve
• the ‘settlor’ – the person who puts assets into a trust
• the ‘trustee’ – the person who manages the trust
• the ‘beneficiary’ – the person who benefits from the trust
What the settlor does
The settlor decides how the assets in a trust should be used – this is usually set out in a document called the ‘trust deed’.
Sometimes the settlor can also benefit from the assets in a trust – this is called a ‘settlor-interested’ trust and has special tax rules. Find out more about the types of trust that may suit yourspecific needs by calling Will Trust & Protect now, or just email us your question to info@willtrustandprotect.co.uk
What trustees do
The trustees are the legal owners of the assets held in a trust. Their role is to:
• deal with the assets according the settlor’s wishes, as set out in the trust deed or their will
• manage the trust on a day-to-day basis and pay any tax due
• decide how to invest or use the trust’s assets
If the trustees change, the trust can still continue, but there always has to be at least 1 trustee.
Beneficiaries
There might be more than 1 beneficiary, like a whole family or defined group of people. They may benefit from:
• the income of a trust only – eg from renting out a house held in a trust
• the capital only – eg getting shares held in a trust when they reach a certain age
• both the income and capital of the trust
Asset Protection
Reports have suggested that up to 20,000 homes a year have to be sold to fund residential care costs. But this could be prevented. An Asset Protection Trust from helps safeguard your home and other possessions, including savings and investments. It means you still have total control over the things you value, but helps protect them from being sold against your wishes.
An Asset Protection Trust, technically a Lifetime Discretionary Trust, works like a safety deposit box. You put your house and the bulk of your other assets into it. You can access your capital at any time, provided the majority of the Trustees agree. You can access an income from the Trust and you continue to control the assets. You have no administration to worry about and, if there is a dispute with the Local Authority, the technical Trustees will deal with that on your behalf. You can even change your mind and take the assets back out, provided the majority of the Trustees agree.
Remember, if you have your assets in a Trust, they should be protected; assets outside the Trust remain vulnerable.
An Asset Protection Trust can protect you from:
Probate costs
Sideways disinheritance
Dependent relatives’ claims
Children inheriting in the wrong circumstances
Will Trust and Protect can advise on what type of trust would best suit your needs. We can help create a Trust for you, and offer administrative support.
For a consultation use the ‘Contact Us’ section or call us on 0845 257 9827.