Types of Trust: Guide for Families
Trusts offer a way to protect and manage your assets both during your lifetime and after your death. Assets that can be put into trust include money, shares and investments, and property. But with so many different types of trust, how do you know which is best for your needs? What is a trust? Although […]
What is a Bare Trust?
Trusts can help to ensure that the right people inherit your wealth in accordance with your wishes. There are also certain types of trust that can be used during the course of your own lifetime so as to help your loved ones with things like educational fees and care costs. Whilst you should always seek […]
How Does a Trust Protect Personal Assets?
An optimised approach to asset protection will consider a wide range of tools and structures potentially at your disposal. One item for consideration in this toolkit will be the trust. Trusts have for centuries been used for asset protection purposes. However, trusts have also been synonymous with tax planning and avoidance. For better or for […]
Asset Protection (A Useful Guide!)
Asset protection is essentially about planning now to protect for later. Without planning, your assets are likely to be at risk of exposure to a number of financial predators. This could be as a result of commercial creditors, bankruptcy, divorce or the tax man. So while the value of your assets will always be subject […]
What are the Different Types of Family Trust?
A family trust is a legal mechanism by which an individual can financially cater for their loved ones, essentially controlling how their family is to inherit their legacy, either during that individual’s own lifetime or upon their death. But what are the different types of family trust? Below we consider family trusts in more detail, […]
What is a Life Interest Trust?
Life interest trusts can be used for a number of reasons, not least to ensure that financial provision is made for your spouse or civil partner during their lifetime, whilst preserving any assets for the benefit of your children at a later date. But what is a life interest trust and exactly how it can […]
Family Trusts Explained
The family trust can be an effective way of making financial provision for your loved ones, both during your lifetime and after you die. This type of trust can be used for all sorts of different reasons, from helping to fund a child’s education to mitigating the cost of care home fees or inheritance tax. […]
Does a Family Trust Protect Assets?
Family trusts are commonly used for a number of reasons, not least to help protect valued assets, such as the family home or hard-earned investments, for both existing and future generations. But does a family trust protect assets effectively? What exactly are the pros and cons of a family trust within the context of asset […]
Family Trust – What is it?
The following guide to family trusts considers what these are, how they work and when you might consider setting one up, not least in the context of financial planning for the future, both during your lifetime and after you die. Family Trust – what is it and why would I need one? A family trust […]
Family Trust Disadvantages
The family trust, when used for the right reasons at the right time, can be an effective way of preserving and protecting personal assets for the benefit of loved ones, both during your lifetime and after you die. That said, as with any type of trust, there can also be a number of drawbacks to […]
Setting up a Family Trust
Setting up a family trust can be an effective way of controlling your personal assets during the course of your own lifetime and upon your death, ensuring that you have a say in exactly who benefits from your hard-earned wealth. It can also be a good way of protecting and preserving that wealth for generations […]
Using Bare Trusts for Grandchildren
Trusts are not simply the preserve of the wealthy, but are also commonly used by families of relatively modest means looking to make provision for their loved ones, either now or in the future. In particular, the trust can be a useful mechanism for a grandparent to invest money on behalf of their grandchildren, typically […]
How Does a Discretionary Trust Work?
A discretionary trust is one of many different types of trust that are available. The suitability of each type of trust should be determined by a number of factors driven primarily by your personal objectives and plans. With its high degree of flexibility and wide practical application, the discretionary trust has become one of the […]
A Guide to Inheritance Tax
Planning for the future can help to ensure that your loved ones are financially secure when you pass away and allow you to decide who receives what assets. A solicitor experienced in probate law can help you with this task and give you peace of mind for the future. One of the most important questions […]
How to Avoid Inheritance Tax
When looking at ‘how to avoid inheritance tax’, you would generally be looking at ways to reduce the size of your taxable estate while making full and effective use of IHT reliefs and exemptions. Inheritance tax becomes payable when the value of an individual’s estate, including gifts made by the deceased in the seven years […]
Inheritance Tax Rates
Understanding how inheritance tax works – in particular the rules relating to individual and married couple allowances, current thresholds and applicable inheritance tax rates – can be key to effective financial planning for the future. By planning ahead you may be able to minimise any inheritance tax liability after you die and, in turn, maximise […]
What is the Inheritance Tax Threshold?
UK inheritance tax, commonly known as IHT, is the tax payable on the transfer of assets from an estate to its beneficiaries. The current rate for IHT is 40%, which becomes payable if the estate is greater than the inheritance tax threshold once all exemptions and reliefs have been deducted. What is the inheritance tax […]