What is a trust?

A Trust is a way of protecting your beneficiaries inheritance not only during your life, but also after your death. When you set up a Trust your assets are removed from your estate and put aside for the beneficiaries. This enables you to protect your assets from third parties. This could include for instance paying for long term care (taking into consideration the Care Act 2014 and guidance on deliberate deprivation of assets) but could also protect your assets should your beneficiary go bankrupt after inheriting from you, or prevent a spouse from claiming your beneficiaries inheritance through a divorce after your death.

Some benefits of a Trust:

• Could protect your beneficiaries from losing up to 50% of their inheritance should they divorce*
• Could protect your beneficiaries from losing up to 100% of their inheritance should they go bankrupt*
• Ensures that at least your share of your estate goes to your beneficiaries, even if your partner re-marries after your death* (eg your assets will not be lost to a new family through this re-marriage)
•  Could protect any grandchildren and future generations of your family from paying inheritance tax unnecessarily*
• Could ensure that disabled beneficiaries continue to receive any mean tested benefits they are receiving after they have inherited*
• Could protect vulnerable, wayward or alcohol/drug dependant beneficiaries from being manipulated by others into misusing their inheritance after they have inherited*
• Could speed up potential long delays and expensive costs associated with probate*

In short a Trust is PROTECTION IF…(certain unexpected scenarios happen), and a Will is DIRECTION WHEN…(the inevitable happens)

You would do anything to protect your loved ones when you are here, creating a Trust continues to protect them after you are gone.

*it is neccessary to have a loan document/promissary note alongside your Trust to ensure the protection offered is implemented effectively – this will be discussed and explained during your meeting with us

To learn more about Trusts or to chat about adding one to an existing Will call us today for a FREE consultation 01903 339 007