Private Client, Wills, Probate & Estate Administration

Trusts

A trust is created when you transfer assets to other people (‘the trustees’) and ask them to hold the assets on somebody else’s behalf (‘the beneficiaries’). The trust can be established during your lifetime, often called ‘a lifetime trust’, or by your Will, often called ‘a Will Trust’.

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As part of their Will, many people will write in provisions that leave cash, investments and property to family members, close friends or even to specific charities. Another option is available though, with trust solicitors able to help you draw up a trust will instead. This helps to protect your estate and put your assets on hold until a specific date in the future or a specific circumstance, that unlocks the estate for your beneficiaries.

Dickinson Parker Hill has been advising the families of West Lancashire and its surrounding areas for over 200 years in relation to the use of trusts. If you are looking for experienced and reliable estate planning lawyers in Lancashire, we are the team for you. A trust is a legal structure that seeks to protect the assets of a person, be it property, cash or investments.

It is different to a will, as it leaves the assets to beneficiaries listed in a will, but does not provide them with those assets immediately after the death of the individual. Instead, trust solicitors will ensure that a set date is written into the trust. This can be useful in cases of young children and financial provisions for their future educational needs. There are numerous reasons why you might be considering a trust, these could include:

Wealth preservation: You may want to ensure that your family benefits from your wealth but do not want there to be scope for the wealth to be unnecessarily dissipated. This ensures that your spouse is provided for and your estate remains intact for your children to acquire in the future
Protect Your Children’s Future: you may wish to leave your assets to your children, but they may currently be of a young age. Certain trusts, such as a family protection trust, can be written to give your children access to your estate at a later stage in life. This is usually at the age of 18, or in some cases if the child reaches higher education or another set milestone
Asset protection: You want to protect your assets from events that may occur in future. This can include potential care fees, or enlisting estate planning lawyers to protect the family home from being sold as a way of paying for residential care.
Disabled beneficiaries: You may want to benefit a disabled beneficiary without it having an impact on any benefits they may receive
Tax: There may be tax advantages to having your trust solicitors place assets in trust; for example, reducing the impact of Inheritance Tax on your family and other beneficiaries

There are numerous advantages to placing assets in trust. You are able to retain control of the assets and their ultimate destination. There are also potential tax advantages to placing assets in trust. If one of your proposed beneficiaries is declared bankrupt, gets divorced or dies before you then your assets are not at risk if they are placed in trust.

We can assist with the establishment of a trust and also the ongoing administration of the trust once it has been set up. This could include dealing with the Trustees’ obligations under the Trustee Act 2000, preparing trust accounts, tax returns and all other matters associated with a trust.