Solicitors in Essex & London
All Wills contain at least a basic form of trust by appointing executors to hold a deceased person’s assets on trust to pay any liabilities and expenses before distributing the balance to the beneficiaries named in the Will. However, some clients have a need for a more complex type of trust in their Will. Our expert private client solicitors have a wealth of experience in advising on and preparing complex Wills with trust arrangements for clients across Essex and London.
It is a common misconception that trusts are reserved for the wealthy or those with complex assets. In fact, most trusts are quite simple structures that are often contained in Wills. A trust is made up of three main components:
A life interest trust – the nature of a life interest is that there is initially only one beneficiary. In most cases the beneficiary is only entitled to the use of the trust fund (e.g. to occupy a property) or receive any income that the trust fund generates. When the sole beneficiary dies, the trust fund usually passes outright to other beneficiaries. This type of trust arrangement is common in second marriages, or, where people are concerned about the risk of future care fees.
Will trusts are very often created in circumstances where the deceased has asset protection in mind and wants to ensure that their assets are not used for any purpose other than for what the deceased intended. This is a complex area of law that requires legal advice from a solicitor with expertise in Wills and Trusts.
The most common circumstances when a Will trust may be appropriate are:
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