Trusts

Trusts and settlements are usually set up during a person’s lifetime to address either taxation or domestic reasons.

If you place chosen assets into a Trust which you no longer require for your own use then this can reduce your own wealth at the date of your death and therefore any Inheritance Tax.

You can also benefit grandchildren with an Accumulation and Maintenance Trust which can skip a generation and provide for such things as school fees.  Again this is a useful way to reduce your tax liability on death.

Domestic reasons can include such things as the desire to avoid outright gifts due to factors such as divorce, bankruptcy, a handicap or need for special care, spendthrift relatives or an unstable relationship.

Trust can be effectively used to address these problems.