Trust Administration and advice to Trustees
A trust once ‘up and running’ can be a difficult thing to manage, not least because of the onerous obligations placed on trustees. We can give assistance in terms of advising trustees what they can and cannot do, offering them advice on the best way to manage the trust in years to come, and providing them with the necessary precedent material they need to run the trust privately long term.
With discretionary trusts, it is important that the trustees do actually use their discretion on an at least yearly basis, and with this in mind we can advise on the best way of recording such details.
We can also assist with the necessary Inheritance Tax returns, which can be extremely complex and should not be tackled without independent advice, at least the first time one is filled out and submitted.
Declarations of Trust – Property Related
When people purchase a new home or an investment property, it is often the case that there are not intended to be completely equal interests in the property, because for example one person (or their parents) have provided a deposit. Alternatively, only one party might be on the mortgage to the property for some reason, despite the fact that two people intend to pay all the outgoings and the mortgage equally.
In these kinds of situations, it is important to evidence your agreement at the start of the matter, so that if there is a relationship breakdown, bankruptcy, or death in the future, the Declaration of Trust will evidence your intentions and agreement, and will protect the interests of the person who has contributed more / does not have their details on the mortgage to the property. Without a Declaration of Trust, upon any relationship breakdown etc., any dispute would need to go to Court and the party wishing to benefit from the property would have to provide evidence that he / she has an interest in the property, which can be extremely difficult and costly. A Declaration of Trust sets out your intentions from the start, and is a contract between the parties buying the properties, which can be relied on in Court if things break down following the purchase.
If you would like to discuss a potential matter or would like any further information then please contact one of our team.