Abbey Legal Services
Trusts & Estate Planning
Abbey Legal Services offers a friendly, competitive, and fuss-free service. We understand that planning for the future can feel overwhelming, which is why our experienced specialists guide you step-by-step with clear, honest advice.
Whether your circumstances are straightforward or require complex trust planning, we ensure your final wishes are structured legally and securely. By choosing Abbey Legal Services, you receive bespoke advice tailored precisely to your needs.
- Compliant with the Society of Will Writers code of practice
- Fixed-fee pricing with no hidden costs
- Flexible no-obligation home visits available
Why do I need a Trust?
Trusts allow you to pass on your assets within a Trust structure – which can have a significant impact on your estate.
A Will Trust (also known as a testamentary Trust) is created within your will to allow you to protect property or assets you hope to pass on to your family and only takes effect once you pass away.
A Lifetime Trust (also known as an inter vivos Trust) is created during your lifetime and takes effect immediately.
As experienced Estate Planners we will identify when the use of a Trust may be of benefit to you and provide the relevant information and advice for you to make an informed decision.
Some of the main reasons for using a Trust are:
- To prevent assets from passing to a future spouse and their family if your husband/wife/civil partner remarries after your death
- To provide for a disabled/vulnerable beneficiary without affecting their entitlement to state or local authority benefits
- To provide for children from previous relationships
- To allow someone to live in your property for a period of time before it passes to your beneficiaries
- To provide control over how and/or when your beneficiaries inherit
- To reduce the potential for claims against your estate
Will Trusts
There are a variety of Trust structures that can be inluded in a Will and we have listed below some of the most common types with a brief description of their main purpose (click to expand). For more information get in touch to arrange a no-obligation consultation.
Protective Property Trust (PPT)
A Protective Property Trust does what it says on the tin - it protects property!
It is a collection of clauses added to your Last Will and Testament that stops your share of your home being diverted away from your chosen beneficiaries, while also ensuring that a nominated person (known as the life tenant and usually your spouse/partner) can continue to benefit from the property and live in it for the remainder of their lives.
The Trust protects your share of your home if, for example, your spouse/partner:
- Gets remarried or has a new partner
- Becomes bankrupt or gets into debt
- Needs to pay for residential care
- Changes their Will
A Protective Property Trust also provides peace of mind and can help you achieve fairness and reduce the risk of family conflict and legal battles.
This is especially important for couples with children from different relationships as there is often a higher risk of family conflict and inheritance disputes in these cases.
Discretionary Trust (DT)
A Discretionary Trust is a way of passing your estate on to those you wish to inherit on a discretionary basis. This means that you indicate in your Wills the people, or groups of people (e.g. children, grandchildren), that could potentially inherit your estate, but the decision as to who inherits what, and when, lies with your Trustees. You would then provide your Trustees with a letter of wishes outlining your preferences and guidance regarding the distribution of your estate.
The benefits of using Discretionary Trusts include:
- Flexibility - As the Trust is discretionary you are simply indicating who can potentially benefit from your estate and you can advise the Trustees how you would like your estate to be used.
- Control - Your Trustees will have full control over your estate when you’re no longer here and will be able to ensure that your estate is handled as you would have wished, and is not dwindled unnecessarily or lost in any future life events your beneficiaries may experience. For example, they will be able to release funds to your beneficiaries to assist with the cost of education or to purchase a property or start a business. And they will be able to hold onto funds if one of your beneficiaries is suffering from addiction or in an undesirable relationship.
A Discretionary Trust is usually incorporated into your Will if you want to retain a level of control over what happens to your estate, as it is the most flexible way of ensuring that your wishes are carried out, and your estate put to good use, after you are gone.
Flexible Life Interest Trust (FLIT)
A Flexible Life Interest Trust in your Will offers greater peace of mind if you wish to protect the value of your estate for future generations. It is often described as the ideal modern Will Trust, as it allows for adequate provision for the surviving spouse/partner, whilst incorporating flexibility into the Will whereby other family members/beneficiaries may benefit should the survivor not require the provision after the first death.
This Trust is created on the death of the first spouse/partner and the assets of the deceased are held in a trust which pays any income generated to the survivor for their lifetime. On the death of the survivor, the trust capital is passed to nominated beneficiaries, such as children. Because the capital in the Trust is not owned by the surviving spouse/partner, it cannot be given away by them to, say, a new spouse or partner, and it cannot be assessed if the survivor needs long term care.
Some of the key benefits of the FLIT are:
- Guarantees who will benefit from your estate if your surviving spouse/partner either remarries, enters into a new relationship or writes a new Will after your death.
- Allows a nominated person to benefit from the income generated from your estate when you are gone, whilst protecting the capital value for future generations.
- Reduce the potential impact of residential care fees on the value of your estate should your surviving partner go into care.
Right to Occupy Trust (RTO)
A Right to Occupy Trust legally permits a person already living in your property to continue living in your property after you die for as long as you decide (a specified period).
This specified period can be for the rest of their life or until they go into full-time care, or can perhaps be limited to 1 or 2 years so the occupant has ample time to find suitable alternative accommodation.
The person you want to convey occupancy rights to can be anyone - a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, a child, a sibling or an elderly relative. And it doesn’t need to be a blood relative - you may have a dear friend or a lodger living with you that you want to protect from being made homeless should you predecease them.
Very often conditions are attached to a Right to Occupy Trust, such as the person living there being responsible for paying all the household bills and home insurance.
If you’d like to protect a loved one from beyond the grave and ensure they are never made homeless, you will need to make a Will and set up a Right to Occupy Trust.
Vulenrable Persons Trust (VPT)
Vulnerable Person Trusts are included in Wills as a way of making long-term financial provision for a disabled/vulnerable beneficiary. The reason a Trust is useful is that assets left in Trust do not belong to the beneficiary of the Trust.
For example, if parents make a Will that leaves their entire Estate to their child, and the value of the Estate amounts to more than the current threshold, any means tested benefits the child currently receives will be immediately withdrawn until the value of the inheritance falls below the threshold level. If the Will had left the Estate in Trust the benefits would not have been affected.
The assets in the Trust can then be used to pay for extra things which any benefits may not fund, such as a holiday, new clothes, electrical goods, special equipment and luxuries. Importantly a Trust can also hold, manage and maintain the parental home if put into the Trust
Other reasons for creating a Trust to help provide some financial protection into the future include:
- Because of fears that local authorities may not always continue to provide care, or may provide insufficient care
- Providing a source of money to “top up” what a local authority is prepared to pay for care
- To obtain better quality care, or a different care package
- To enable the beneficiary to remain where they are, rather than be forced to move
- To permit more choice and options now, and in the future
And the Cost?
The prices below are for new customers and include the cost of a standard Single Will or Mirror Wills. Existing customers will receive a discount equal to the current cost of the standard Will(s).
Most types of Will Trust will also require some work to be undertaken following your death. As an example you can expect to pay in the region of £2,000 for the Probate and Land Registry work required to register a PPT.
Single Will & Trust
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Single Will
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1 Type of Will Trust*
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Lifetime Storage
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MyDigiSafe Store It Account
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50% off Future Will Updates**
Mirror Wills & Trust
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Pair of Mirror Wills
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1 Type of Will Trust*
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Lifetime Storage
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MyDigiSafe Store It Account
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50% off Future Will Updates**
* The prices above are for the inclusion of 1 type of Will Trust in your Will(s). If you require more than 1 type of Will Trust, or have more than 1 property you wish to leave in a Trust, additional charges may apply depending on the complexity. Any additional charges will be provided to you before we take your instructions.
** The 50% discount applies to the cost of the basic Will(s) and we do not charge again for any Will Trusts you have previously purchased. It does not include the addition of any new Will Trusts that you have not previously purchased and the inclusion of such will be charged at the prevailing rate applicable from time to time. Once purchased any Will Trusts will be included in any future updates to your Will(s).
LifetimeTrusts
When you’ve worked hard all your life, you’ll no doubt want to protect your assets so your loved ones can inherit your wealth. This is usually achieved by making a Will, so that your Estate can pass on to your children and other beneficiaries. However, your Will can only distribute the assets you own at the date of your death, so if their value has been depleted during your lifetime, it’s a possibility there may be very little left for your loved ones to inherit!
This is where a Lifetime Trust can help and the most common type of Lifetime Trust we arrange is the Family Asset Protection Trust (FAPT). The potential benefits of using an FAPT can be extremely attractive. A brief glance at some of the advantages will reassure you of the protection that a trust can provide. The information below is not exhaustive, and is provided for guidance purposes and to highlight how an FAPT could potentially work for you. They are flexible, usually very efficient, and could potentially save you and your family thousands of pounds in fees and saved expenses. Probably the most frequently utilised features and benefits include the following:
Sideways disinheritance is avoided
Many children can be disinherited after the death of a parent when the other parent remarries. The situation can worsen if the other parent dies without leaving a Will, as the assets then lie with the new partner who has the power to disinherit the children of the original marriage.
Financial protection from relationship failure
A Family Asset Protection Trust can be very useful in instances where parents may consider that their child’s relationship could be precarious, and wish to protect their child’s inheritance from unwanted claims in the event of their divorce. Similarly, the Settlor might be a widow, or have experienced an expensive divorce, and may therefore be reluctant to enter into a new relationship for fear this fails. Provided the assets are ring-fenced in a Trust prior to cohabitation, the assets are protected for the benefit of the children and grandchildren.
No claims on your Estate
Many families experience Wills that are challenged by disgruntled relatives or dependants who go to court to claim for financial provision. This can be a very lengthy process and may take years to defend, and cost thousands of pounds in legal fees. Assets held in a Trust for at least 6 years cannot easily be challenged.
Protection from bankruptcy of a beneficiary
If any of your chosen beneficiaries is facing bankruptcy at the time of their inheritance the trustees can delay distributing assets until the bankruptcy has ended.
Protection for beneficiaries in receipt of benefits
When those in receipt of state and/or local authority benefits receive an inheritance, it could result in a loss of those benefits. However, as the Trust owns the assets, the beneficiary will continue to qualify for the state and local authority support. The Trustees can “drip-feed” the inheritance or provide additional funds for specialist equipment, accommodation, education, holidays etc., that will not affect the state or local authority benefits.
It’s worth bearing in mind that Trusts are not a new phenomenon - they have been used for over 600 years to protect family wealth in conjunction with traditional Estate Planning measures.
Other types of Lifetime Trust available include a Holdover Relief Trust that can help with Capital Gains Tax planning and a Common Intention Trust that can help with Inheritance Tax Planning if you have a child who lives in a second property you own. For further details please don't hesitate to contact us.
And the Cost?
The process of setting up a Family Asset Protection Trust is more involved than a standard Will (with or without a Will Trust) and often requires several meetings with our consultant to ensure everyone understands the Trust paperwork, their role in the Trust, and any ongoing requirements.
With this in mind, we believe our charges represent excellent value for money and include the following:
- Multiple meetings with our consultant to ensure everyone involved understands the Trust and their role within it
- Provision and execution of the Trust Deed and associated documents
- Land Registry Title update and registration of a restriction in favour of the Trust*
- Assistance with registering the Trust on HMRC's Trust Registration Service (TRS)
- Guidance for the Trustees on their role and future administrative and reporting requirements
- Supply of standard Single Will or Mirror Wills if required
- Lifetime storage of your Will(s) and other important documents (Trust Deed, annual minutes, etc)
- A free MyDigiSafe Store It account worth £39.50 per year (click here for more details)
- 50% discount on future updates to your Will(s)**
Single FAPT
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FAPT Trust Deed
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Letter of Wishes
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Land Registry Title Update*
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Registration with HMRC TRS
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Guidance for Trustees
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Single Will (if required)
Joint FAPT
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FAPT Trust Deed
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Letter of Wishes
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Land Registry Title Update*
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Registration with HMRC TRS
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Guidance for Trustees
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Pair of Mirror Wills (if required)
* Additional charges will apply if the property is not currently registered electronically with Land Registry. This generally only applies to properties purchased in excess of 40 years ago where no further changes (remortgage, change of name, addition or removal of joint owner) have occured since compulsory registration was introduced on 1st December 1990.
** The 50% discount applies to the cost of the basic Will(s) and we do not charge again for any Will Trusts you have previously purchased. It does not include the addition of any new Will Trusts that you have not previously purchased and the inclusion of such will be charged at the prevailing rate applicable from time to time. Once purchased any Will Trusts will be included in any future updates to your Will(s).