We offer an extensive range of services to UK and international clients whose interests or goals may be served through the use of a trust.
Trust Establishment
We offer an extensive range of services to UK and international clients whose interests or goals may be served through the use of a trust. We will identify if a structure could be useful for your particular circumstances, whether a traditional domestic trust or perhaps an alternative structure (which could involve one of the highly specialised “purpose trusts” presently evolving in jurisdictions outside England’s shores or a trust-like vehicle such as a foundation commonplace in many civil law countries) is most suitable.
Equally, your interests may be served through a more commercial structure such as a partnership or company. In some complex cases a tailor made structure may well combine all of these elements.
An integral part of our advice will focus on the tax implications associated with the establishment and running of the structure and we will co-ordinate and “project manage” work requiring the involvement of advisers in other fields and jurisdictions. A sound understanding of your financial, business and family circumstances and objectives is essential and we pride ourselves in a succinct and commercial approach.
As well as advising founders or “settlors” and their families, our clients could also typically include trustees or other persons acting in a fiduciary capacity such as protectors.
Trust Management
At Charles Russell Speechlys we also maintain an experienced trust and probate management team to administer UK resident family, charitable and personal injury trusts. We manage over 800 trusts on behalf of clients; some of these have been in existence for generations, but many have been created in recent years.
We support UK trustees in the management, accounting and tax issues they face, including:
- providing professional trustees, including our own dedicated trust corporation
- preparing trust accounts and financial statements
- handling the trust's investments and cash, and arranging sales, purchases and other transactions
- managing all the trust's tax affairs, including calculating tax liabilities, meeting revenue compliance requirements and dealing with beneficiaries' trust tax affairs
- recording the trust's investment policies and monitoring investment performance, and
- holding trustee investments in our nominee company, in separately designated accounts.