Trusts within a Will.
By setting up a Trust within a Will you can protect assets, and predetermine their distribution. Trusts, if used correctly, can be an extremely potent ally in Estate Planning, we can suggest a multitude of solutions, with much depending upon your circumstances and objectives.
Below are just a few examples of the uses for Trusts set up via a Will:
♣ Sheltering assets can lead to Inheritance Tax benefits.
♣ Assets can be safe guarded against care home fees in certain circumstances, but only up to a certain value.
♣ Discretionary Trusts can either be set up in your lifetime or within your Will to be effected on the first death of a couple. Circumstances will determine which route is appropriate.
Disabled Discretionary Trusts.
How do you provide financially for someone who may find it difficult to manage their own affairs? And how do you achieve this without impacting on their entitlement to disability allowance and residential care, which are means tested?
The provisions of a Disabled Discretionary Trust written into your Will allow for your child to retain their full allowances as well as benefiting from your estate. Effectively the assets in the trust are not owned by the parent or child, and as a consequence these assets will escape the attention of the local authority when assessing entitlement to state benefits. Ideally the Trustees of the Disabled Trust would be made up of trusted family members, who would then make funds available when necessary. This would then in turn potentially avoid having to pay professional fees for administering the Trust.
