Trusts

Trusts can provide future security for family and future generations. They can be used with a combination of financial planning, lifetime giving and gifts on death to mitigate tax and to protect assets for you and possibly future generations. Each one has different advantages, the main ones being Inheritance tax and capital gains tax. One of our experts can explain this in more detail to you

Why use a Trust?

Trusts are set up for a number of reasons, it all depends on your needs and requirements. Some examples are:

• to control and protect family assets
• when someone’s too young to handle their affairs
• when someone cannot handle their affairs because they’re incapacitated
• to pass on assets while you are still alive
• to pass on assets when you die

Advantages of a trust

Reasons and advantages for setting up a trust are varied, and these are as follows:

• It can pay a regular income to one or more beneficiaries.
• An individual’s share of a property can be placed into a life interest trust so that the value of that share is not taken into account when the financial situation of a settlor is assessed, e.g. when they require care
• Capital can be advanced at any time
• It protects the beneficiaries, e.g. your children if your spouse re-marries.
• It allows assets to increase in value outside the estate of the settlor which would increase inheritance tax on death if retained in the name of the settlor