Trusts
Estate planning
Introduction to Estate planning and how it broadly means maximizing wealth and passing it on to achieve the client's aim.
Every client has a different set of circumstances and objectives, whether you are married or in a civil partnership, with children or possible children.
Wills trusts and estate planning will cover in detail Clients with Business, types of assets, and how these should be put into a will, and into trust for other directors/shareholders so that a company can operate through probate, and keep the staff retention.
Trusts are somewhat covering Financial planning, but like we have to plan our finances for buying a home, car, loan, or credit, the same should be regarded for our assets, savings, equity and investments, pensions, and life insurance.
Estate planning involves arranging for your wealth to be passed on. Some clients may be in a position to pass on their wealth before death and the gifting rules prior to 7 years for Inheritance tax purposes.
We will cover the subject of Inheritance tax and capital gains tax. Including relief by estate planning
Civil partners are treated the same way as Married couples for tax purposes.
Aims of Estate planning
The aims of a client are usually
The provision of financial security for self and family
The avoidance of tax
It is not always possible to achieve both objectives but Try doing it yourself and you find you will need a practitioner the overall objective for any private client is to save them CGT through life and IHT tax on death.
Gifts into trusts provide the flexibility this is why trusts are attractive, you can be a trustee yourself and appoint family and friends, and children as trustees, at wills trusts and estates we also have a trust Solicitor company that can be a professional trustee as well, who has the experience of dealing with investments, pensions, and Assets.
The aim is to give family or Business director's shareholders the enjoyment to use what you have passed on and to the best advantage and tax savings are only one aspect of estate planning.
How do trusts and estate planning work?
You can contact us, by phone, social media, or contact form or email, send us your details and a brief outline, we will respond by getting in touch, and offering you a free consultation usually takes an hour on the phone or zoom or whats app, so you get to know the consultant and we get to know your circumstances.
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Our Estate planners, some are IFA, mortgages, and Will & trust writers who do lasting power of attorneys. We will talk in layman’s terms and look at the whole picture.
If local to us we are in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and in Great Bookham, Surrey we will come to see you and will travel if required within limits of course. However now the landscape has changed, we have the software and with virtual remote working we can do most of it via video call and you can even sign digitally.
Once we have detailed findings, we will then Go away and look at what is the best solution to fit your needs and circumstances, we will come back with a proposal of what Trusts are required and implement them for you.
What is a trust and how does it work
History
Trusts were started in the 12th century by the King of England after the crusades. Derived from Common law, through Roman law and civil law.
There is the first recording of trusts around 800 A.D. where Kings went to war and handed over the assets to be taken care of, to come back to find it taken over by a new Heir, this is where trusts were formed and became the only way of ensuring if handing over asset it was protected for the heirs, beneficiaries or the Trustor can also be a trustee, ensuring they receive the benefit.
What was the main purpose of trusts?
To create the protection of assets from trustors, to ensure assets are protected and mitigate inheritance tax.
Trusts are private documents, unlike wills that are public, so by placing assets, equity, investments, and business in one or more trusts, no one can see what is contained or open that document, it is for the trustee only to administer the estate for the beneficiaries.
People do not realize the true power of trusts and how they can help in many circumstances.
What does trust mean?
May to some seem self-explanatory, Trust to entrust something to someone, we can make verbal agreements but without firstly a Will, which is your wishes and desires directive, directing your assets into a trust your Estate if over £325,000 can be liable for IHT. Anything verbal will not be taken to account.
We cannot express the importance of having a Will, this is a legal document that can direct into trusts.
Nil rate band is taxed at 40% over £325,000, if married or in a civil partnership you both get £325,000, a total of £650,000 anything over that amount is taxed at 40%.
RNRB -Residence Nil rate band, is an extra allowance on the main property, allowing the owner an extra allowance.
If IHT advice is required it should be provided
Wills trusts and estate will look at gifting Strategies, and give advice on property, rentals, and business, investments, bonds, shares, and future income from savings or pensions.
Our in-house financial Adviser helps many who have large holdings of assets and companies and do not realize how much they could save by having an estate planner.
Identifying there is a transfer of Value, which arises when the person is no longer here. This is why it is good to seek advice 5-7 years so that any transfer of value in a lifetime, as some lifetime transfers are taxable at the time they are made.
Some are only chargeable if the Transferor does not live at least seven years from the date of the making the transfer.
Since every private client's circumstances are different, we do not offer advice until we have done a full fact find, gathered your information, and then look at the whole estate and how best to manage it.
We have to determine relevant exemptions and reliefs. They can reduce the value transferred. These are referred to as Lifetime transfers and for this, we cover them in greater detail in our blog.
Calculating the appropriate rate of tax depends on how much NRB is available whether it was done in lifetime or death transfer. If it is on death it will also depend if the settlor left money to charity.
The amount of the estate that is charged 0% depends, on the value of chargeable transfers made by the deceased in the seven years before death.
The NRB is only used on the main residence not transferable.
How to use a trust to cut your inheritance tax.
Once you pass your assets into the trust they are no longer owned by you if you write others to be trustees other than yourself unless you are both Trustee and a beneficiary, so in order to benefit we recommend you transfer the title to the trustee and you can be both.
We normally recommend, more than two trustees, and even we can appoint a legal trust solicitor company to deal with the complexities on your behalf, give advice dealing with Assets and investments, and pensions.
For example, if you want the benefit in a lifetime to have income from the trust, it would be written in that you are both trustee and beneficiary.
Why put your business in trust?
Benefits are protecting the business from outside attacks, for example, if you are a landlord with a large portfolio, you could be open to lawsuits, however by putting the properties into trust and giving you the benefit of income, means no one can take your asset away by filing a civil lawsuit.
What type of threats and attacks?
Divorce
Bankruptcy, IVA’s
Creditors
Tenants
Probate
If you want to be protected and unscathed by any civil lawsuit, trusts are the only way to protect your business which is your asset. If you the client do not make any estate planning, in life and for death, you can be clobbered in many ways, and this page is not exhaustive but to give you the information in layman’s terms, whilst having recommended Trusts for Sole traders, landlords, Small, medium and large Corporations, those with Other directors, shareholders.
Many do not have a will, let alone put caveats in the will directing to a trust so that the company can run for the benefit of the family (if they want to run the company) other directors, shareholders, and staff. Without a will, (Intestacy rules) the company ceases to operate. Once in probate leaving the company to lose revenue as a result, or even Being wound up as a result, once the state has gone through probate paid debts and paid taxes. Protecting your business is key to Tax savings and estate planning.
What Wills trusts and estate planning will do is break it down further, in more detail, in our blogs covering key topics surrounding estate planning for both personal and business assets.
Please get in touch if you need a consultant, and would like to put a trust in place, we are here to help and ensure you and your loved ones are protected.