Quite often, trusts arise under Wills. They might be to protect a vulnerable person's entitlement to benefits and care, to balance the needs of a spouse with those of children from a first marriage or to create Inheritance Tax savings. It is vitally important that these trusts are dealt with properly as part of the estate administration.
They have their own identity for tax purposes and it can be quite tricky for a personal representative to keep track of all the formalities for the estate and the trust or trusts. We can help you with that.
Once the estate administration is over, that is not the end of our involvement. We can act as professional trustees or provide advice to lay trustees. We have a dedicated trust administration team which can ensure that the trust is run properly from day to day. As well as dealing with aspects such as tax and trust accounts, which are very important if the trustees are to carry out their job properly, we can advise on the best way to make payments to beneficiaries to achieve the objectives of the person who set up the trust. We have a particular specialism in assisting where a beneficiary of the trust is vulnerable, lacks capacity or is in receipt of means tested benefits or care.