Trust
Matters Discretionary Will Trust Arrangement
Applicable
to all individuals and married couples The
benefits of placing assets into a Trust Matters Discretionary Will Trust on
1st
and 2nd death are; - Inheritance
Tax savings for your grandchildren
-
Assets are free from Inheritance Tax for up to 80 years
-
Control for the surviving spouse
-
Unrestricted access to the trust fund for the surviving spouse
- Protection
from the survivors means testing for later life care costs
- Protection
from divorce proceedings
- Protection
from creditor problems
-
Perpetuity clause in the event of the death of all beneficiaries
- The
ability to exclude specific individuals as beneficiaries
-
Wide trustee powers
An example;
Arthur
and Joan Smith have a joint estate of £624,000, including the value of their
home. They have made Wills leaving everything to each other and then to their
children after second death. Following the recent
legislation contained in the Chancellor Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget Report on
9th October 2007, there should now be no Inheritance Tax (IHT) on first or second
death in this scenario. On first appearance therefore, it would seem that there
is no need for Arthur and Joan to take any action. However in doing nothing, they
might simply be passing on the problem to the future generations as the diagram
shows. 
Based
on the assumption that Arthur and Joan's children are both married and their respective
estates are worth £624,000 each i.e. the prevailing nil rate band of £312,000
x 2, any inheritance that either of them receive from Arthur and Joan will simply
increase the value of their estates and be liable to IHT on their demise if they
don't spend it. Therefore the whole of Arthur and Joan's estate could be liable
to IHT when it eventually passes to their grandchildren, a total IHT bill of £249,600!
In addition to this the whole of the estate
will be subject to means testing in respect of the survivors later life care costs
and once passed to the children will be considered part of their estate for any
divorce action or bankruptcy proceedings they may be involved in.
If
you would like to discuss our Will Trust further please
telephone us on 01727
737610 or email info@trustmatters.co.uk
The
Trust Matters LATESS Trust If your estate is valued
in excess of £624,000, you should also seriously consider placing assets
into Trust during your lifetime using the Trust Matters LATESS Trust. This can
reduce / eliminate the Inheritance Tax liability on your estate. Please
click here for details. The
LATESS arrangement will require a face-to-face meeting. | 
