Direct Access Barrister
Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning
Client guide · please read and keep
Complex trusts for estate planningBeyond the family property trust — the structures used for larger or more particular estates
Our note Family property trusts, explained covers the everyday lifetime trust of a home. This note goes a step further, to the trusts used where an estate is larger, a family more complicated, or a specific need must be met — protecting a vulnerable relative, providing for a second family, or holding a business down the generations. It is general information, not advice; we will recommend the right structure for you in writing.
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The structures, and what each is forDiscretionary will trustCreated by your will, taking effect on death. The trustees hold the estate for a class of beneficiaries and decide how to apply it — useful for keeping options open, protecting a beneficiary, or holding the nil-rate band. Life interest / immediate post-death interestGives a person (often a surviving spouse) the income or right to occupy for life, with the capital passing to others — commonly the children — afterwards. The classic answer to providing for a second spouse while protecting children of a first marriage. Disabled or vulnerable person’s trustA specially-treated trust for a disabled beneficiary that provides for them without jeopardising means-tested benefits, and with more favourable tax treatment than an ordinary discretionary trust. Bereaved-minor / 18–25 trustHolds a gift for children or young adults until a set age, so they do not inherit a large sum too young. Often set up by will for one’s own children. Business or agricultural property trustHolds a trading business, shares or farmland, often combined with the relevant inheritance-tax reliefs, to keep an enterprise intact and in the family across generations.
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Matching the structure to the need
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The common thread — and the honest caveatEvery one of these carries the duties set out in our trust note: trustee obligations, registration with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service, record-keeping, and a tax regime of its own. The more elaborate the structure, the higher the running cost and the greater the need to get the drafting exactly right. Complexity for its own sake helps no one. The right structure is the simplest one that achieves your aim. A complex trust is justified by a real need — a vulnerable beneficiary, a blended family, a business to protect — not by the sophistication of the scheme. The same warnings in our trust note apply here: a trust is not a guaranteed inheritance-tax saver, and never a safe route around care fees.
This note is general information and does not constitute advice on your circumstances. We will recommend a specific structure, and explain its costs and obligations, in writing before anything is signed. |