Trusts
Trusts are incredibly powerful vehicles that can be used to protect your wealth for future generations.
By listening carefully to what you want a Trust to achieve now and after your death, our specialist Solicitors will advise you on the type of Trust most appropriate for your needs.
We can also advise Trustees on their legal responsibilities and help them meet their obligations under the Trust Deed. Whether you are using the Trust to protect residential and buy-to-let property, a farm, a business, or a share investment portfolio, you can be confident that our Solicitors will ensure your Trust is set up correctly.
Based in Coventry, we are a diverse, multi-lingual law firm that uses best-in-class technology to provide clients with streamlined, modern, and highly effective Wills, Trusts, and estate planning advice and representation. Our years of experience in private client law means we have a robust reputation for excellence with the UK’s best Barristers and King’s Counsel, Estate Agents, Independent Financial Advisers, Tax Advisors, Surveyors, and Business Succession Planning Advisors who can bring additional support to our Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning Department if required.
Below are some of the most common questions we are asked about Trusts.
What is a Trust?
A Trust is a legal vehicle that allows you (the Settlor) to transfer assets into the Trust for the benefit of others (known as Beneficiaries). The Trust is managed by Trustees, chosen by the Settlor.
What are the benefits of setting up a Trust?
There are several benefits in setting up a Trust, including:
- tax planning advantages
- vulnerable family members can be taken care of via income from the Trust
- you can keep your wealth within your ‘bloodline’, ensuring it is not reduced if one of your children or grandchildren gets divorced or becomes bankrupt
- the ability to separate your life insurance from your taxable estate
What are the different types of Trusts?
There are several types of Trust to choose from. Our Solicitors will take the time to understand your objectives and advise you on the best type of Trust to achieve them.
Below is a summary of some of the most common types of Trusts:
Bare Trusts
A Bare Trust is the simplest form of Trust. You can put assets such as residential property or shares into the Trust and the Beneficiary has the right to the capital and income after they turn 18 years.
Interest in Possession Trust
The Beneficiary is entitled to the income generated (minus expenses) from assets placed in the Trust but not the capital.
Discretionary Trusts
Depending on what is set out in the Trust Deed, the Trustees have the power to decide how the Trust’s income and capital are used. For example, they can decide how often Beneficiaries are paid and how much.
Discretionary trusts are often used to provide for future needs. For example, you could place assets in a Trust to pay private school fees for future generations.
Settlor-Interest Trust
This allows the Settlor or their spouse or civil partner to benefit from the Trust. For example, you could place your house in a Trust that allowed your spouse to occupy it during their lifetime and upon their death, have the property passed on to your children.
What are the legal requirements for creating a Trust?
For a Trust to come into existence, the following three matters must be certain:
- The Settlor’s intention to create a Trust (and not, for example, to make an outright gift to the Trustees for their own benefit) must be clear.
- The Trust assets must be certain. For example, if the Settlor is settling shares and is a shareholder in more than one company, the Trust Deed must state clearly which shares are to be transferred into the Trust.
- Who the Beneficiaries are? A Trust must have Beneficiaries who are identifiable people. Charitable Trusts are an exception, they can be set up for a specific purpose such as protecting a certain type of animal.
Our Trust Solicitors will carefully draft the Trust Deed to ensure your instructions are clearly documented. We will also ensure that all the administrative provisions required for specific assets are recorded, for example, if the Trust includes a business, the Trust Deed must make clear that the Trustees can continue to trade. The Trust Deed can also limit the liability of Trustees which is important if they are not professionals.
Why choose us?
Our Trust Solicitors have an in-depth understanding of Trust law and will ensure your objectives in creating a Trust are met.
People choose and recommend us because we care about them, their family, and their future. Our Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning Solicitors are focused on results and achieving them in the most cost-effective, efficient way possible. This is why we are one of the most successful and busiest private client lawyers in Coventry and Warwickshire.
Our clients recommend us not just in Coventry, Nuneaton, Rugby and Leamington, but across Warwickshire, the Midlands and the whole of the UK.
To talk to us about creating and/or administering a Trust, please contact us using the form below, call us on Coventry (02476) 231000, email enquiries@askewslegal.co. or visit us at our city centre offices in Coventry.