Trusts and Executorships

Having accumulated wealth through our working life we need to reflect on how this will be shared with HM Revenue & Customs after our death.

We provide specific advice on how to reduce any liability through the use of:

• Will planning
• Lifetime gifts to individuals
• The use of Trusts
• Allowances and exemptions applying to specific assets

Trusts can be a very tax efficient way to set aside assets for future Beneficiaries outside of the Inheritance Tax (IHT) net and are relatively easy to set up. A Trust allows you to place assets under the control of others and also provide some protection of assets against tax.

Protection of assets against your possible care home fees can also be achieved with the right type of Trust.

We can advise on the most suitable Trust for your purposes and if we feel that a Trust isn’t for you because you can achieve your plans by another route, we will say so. Our Tax adviser Lucy Orrow, can provide the necessary information to your solicitor or legal adviser so that they can set up the right Trust for you and your Beneficiaries.

We recognise that Trusts can be a delicate matter, but having established one, we can provide full support in preparing the Self Assessment Tax Returns on behalf of the Trustees. We also offer:

• accounts preparation of the annual trust accounts
• acting as a trustee
• minutes of meetings concerned with running the trust
• drafting of trustees’ policy statements
• inheritance planning for the trust
• advising the trust of due dates for tax payments
• providing statements of income for beneficiaries
• preparing beneficiary tax returns.