With many families reviewing their personal estate planning in light of the current pandemic, many are looking to trusts as a means to protect their assets.

Trust Establishment: What do I need to consider?

Trusts are a popular structure for families to use but it is important to make the trust work for you and your personal circumstances. There are various options to choose from - whether a traditional domestic trust or perhaps an alternative structure. Equally, your interests may suit a more commercial structure such as a partnership or company. In some complex cases a tailor made structure might combine all of these elements.

An integral part of our advice will be to focus on the tax implications and whether the on-going financial commitments warrant the return. A sound understanding of your financial, business and family circumstances and objectives is essential. We will co-ordinate and “project manage” work requiring the involvement of advisers in other fields and jurisdictions.

For more information about international trust structures and wealth planning, please click here.

As well as advising founders or “settlors” and their families, we also support trustees.

Trust Management: How do I manage a trust once established?

Many of our clients like us to maintain and administer their trusts. We manage over 800 trusts on behalf of clients; some of these have been in existence for generations, but many are more recent. These cover UK resident family, charitable and personal injury trusts, with a wide range of trust assets including cash, investments, family company shares, land and houses.

We support UK trustees in the management, accounting and tax issues they face, including:

• providing professional trustees where required, including our own dedicated trust corporation
• preparing trust accounts and financial statements
• liaising as required with investment advisers
• managing all the trust's tax affairs, including calculating tax liabilities, meeting HMRC compliance requirements and dealing with beneficiaries' trust tax affairs
• recording the trust's investment policies and monitoring investment performance.