Trusts – protecting your wealth

Most people know what a Trust is and of the many benefits Trusts can provide but having the RIGHT Trust in place for you and your loved ones is critical especially where the status of the potential beneficiaries is concerned.

Trusts have been instrumental in protecting assets and tax mitigation since the nobility first used them to protect their lands and wealth when they went off to fight in the Crusades. Nowadays, you don’t have to be a wealthy landowner or part of the nobility to take advantage of the many benefits Trusts can provide.

When assets (property, cash etc) are distributed directly to the beneficiaries of a Will the value of these assets are then considered to be part of their estate. This could seriously impact vulnerable adults, such as those who are in receipt of means tested benefits, or those not capable of making their own decisions and young dependants.

These inherited assets are also now at risk of attack from the following issues:

· Remarriage after first death

· Divorce / separation of the beneficiaries

· Creditors / Bankruptcy claims

· Care costs

· Taxation

Having the correct Trust(s) in place essentially ring fences your assets providing protection from the above risks, for the family home, investments and any business or agricultural assets, whilst still be immediately available to your chosen beneficiaries after you are gone.