
Trusts
TESTAMENTARY OR TRUST UNDER WILL
A Testamentary Trust or Will Trusts, or even Trust under Will are a set of agreements written into your Will and can be utilised for a variety of different reasons, such as;
- Help protect and safeguard your personal assets (your home and savings) for children or other named beneficiaries after death. Divorce and Remarriage are a more common and significant factor and standard Wills do not afford any protection at all against these risks.
- Provide a home for someone after death (an unmarried partner, adult child, friend or an elderly relative) for an agreed time period prior to the property passing to the ultimate beneficiaries. The ultimate beneficiaries are unable to forcibly remove the ‘tenant’ and sell the property until the agreed time period has elapsed.
- Protecting a disabled or troubled (alcohol/drugs/gambling) beneficiary’s inheritance.
ASSET PROTECTION TRUSTS (APT) (or FAMILY TRUSTS)
Asset Protection Trusts are again utilised for a number of different reasons and are set up NOW, during your lifetime. These Trusts will be drafted by a Barrister and have significant and enhanced benefits over Testamentary or Will Trusts and can be used in the following instances;
There are many other possible benefits that are by-products of setting up a Trust during your lifetime and we would be delighted to have one of our partner advisors discuss these benefits with you should you wish….
For more information on Trusts, you can also CLICK HERE to our Frequently Asked Questions section of the website
Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
There are certain areas in life that we should look to as critical to protecting you and your loved ones and an LPA is one of those that must be in place in the event you lose your mental capacity or became unable to manage your own personal affairs, where the people YOU appoint will make those decisions on your behalf and are legally authorised ahead of time to do so! In order for them to act on your behalf, they would need to become your Attorneys and it is essential this is organised whilst you have the capacity to do so!
INCORRECT ASSUMPTION: We are married and have joint share in everything including money savings bank accounts etc…
–Assumption is a dangerous thing because the in practice if you or your partner/loved one loses his or her capacity to make decisions without an LPA in place, your assets are effectively frozen, which includes any and/or all jointly owned assets
Should either you or your partner/loved one lose his or her mental capacity and there is no existence of an LPA application would be required to The Court of Protection to become yours or their ‘Deputy’.
Applying to the Court of Protection is a lengthy process and has been known to take up to 12months, not to mention the prohibitive cost which could be £2000+ which still gives NO guarantee your application would be accepted.
LPA’s come in 2 forms or types:
1/ Health & Welfare
2/ Property & Financial Affairs
LPA’s all require registration with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before they can be utilised, therefore it is important that you ensure they are in place now, because waiting until you really need it may well be too late for the reasons already stated.
Office of the Public Guardian charge a registration fee to register each LPA document, but this can be minimised or waived subject to your own particular personal circumstances.
If you would like further information on LPA’s, then please let us know and we can point you in the right direction with one of our partner advisors…
Also you can find further information in our Frequently Asked Questions section of the website by CLICKING HERE
Business Protection – Business Wills & LPA
Just as it is essential to have LPA’s in place in a personal context, If you run a business, it is extremely important to consider succession should you lose your mental capacity, or have a serious accident or die.
LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY (LPA)
Sole Trader, Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership or a Limited Company? Either way, you may wish to talk to us about a Business Lasting Power of Attorney.
Business LPA’s are set up specifically to make sure that your business is able to continue to trade should you lose mental capacity or have a serious accident.
If you are the main decision maker within your business it is possible for the business to fail if important decisions within the business cannot be made and there are no appointed Attorneys in place to make those decisions on your behalf.
For instance:
BUSINESS WILLS
In addition to the personal aspects addressed within your Will you may wish to consider including or adding separate Executors in your Will to undertake to handle your business affairs after death.
It may be possible after death to claim Business Property Relief (BPR) from Inheritance Tax (IHT) on the transfer of certain relevant business assets at a rate of either 50% or 100%, but certain conditions must be adhered to qualify.
Relevant business property comprises of:
Relevant property must be held for at least two years in order to qualify for relief.
If you would like further details of Business Wills or BPR, please contact us and one of partner advisors can point you in the right direction