Trusts & Lifetime Planning Solicitors

If you want to ensure a loved one is provided for long-term or that key assets such as your home are protected, setting up a trust can offer a highly effective solution. Trust law can be complex, however, so it is important to have the right legal advice from the outset to ensure the trust in question meets your needs.

A trust is a formal, legal agreement that means one or more persons (the ‘trustees’) takes responsibility for safeguarding certain assets and managing them for the benefit of a nominated person or persons (the ‘beneficiaries’). These assets might be money, property or anything else of value, with the person placing the assets into the trust known as the ‘settlor’.

Tayntons’ trusts and lifetime planning solicitors, based in Gloucester, can help you create a trust, advise trustees on managing a trust, and provide support to beneficiaries who have questions or concerns about how a trust is being managed.

We understand that your situation is unique, so will make sure we get to know you and your goals. Our solicitors can then offer personal, tailored advice to help you achieve your aims as simply and effectively as possible.

Speak to one of our trusts and lifetime planning solicitors now by calling 0800 158 4147 or request a call back and a member of our team will be in touch promptly.

Our trusts and lifetime planning services

We help individuals and families with all issues related to trusts and lifetime planning in Gloucester, Cheltenham, the Forest of Dean and throughout Gloucestershire.

We will be happy to advise you on the various types of trusts and help you to decide which bests suits your goals and circumstances.

Our trusts solicitors regularly advise settlors, beneficiaries and trustees on all types of trusts, including:

Family trusts

Allowing you to provide for future generations of your family either through your Will or lifetime trusts. We can advise you on the creation of suitable documents and the tax implications.

Charitable trusts

Tayntons can deal with the creation of Charitable Trusts and we also administer some large Charitable Trusts, giving us the expertise to advise you on all aspects of these types of trusts.

Will trusts

Our clients often wish to create Trusts in their Wills, perhaps to protect a surviving spouse, to deal with blended families and make sure all children of a couple inherit, or to provide for vulnerable beneficiaries such as those with disabilities. We can also advise on options to protect your assets from a beneficiary with financial problems.

Lifetime trusts

Creating a trust in your lifetime can be an effective way of securing assets for particular beneficiaries, but may have tax implications. Tayntons solicitors and lawyers can advise on the possibilities and implications.

Property trusts

Trusts may be created during a lifetime to preserve a property, but more often arise out of a Life Interest Trust created in a Will. We can advise on the transfers of property to put these trusts in place and the running of the trusts.

Personal injury trusts

Personal injury settlements can be placed in trust to preserve the funds and prevent loss of benefits and payments for nursing care, depending on the circumstances. We can advise on your options and prepare any documents needed.

Bare trusts

A Bare trust keeps some control over assets being passed to a beneficiary. Often these are used for children who have inherited from an estate but are not old enough to take the funds personally.

Children’s trusts

These types of trusts are most often needed to hold assets from pension funds or death in service benefits to support a child or children where a parent has died. We can advise you on the process and prepare all necessary documents.

Interest in possession trusts (life interest trusts)

These trusts usually run for the lifetime of a particular person.  They can be set up during your lifetime or in your Will and are most commonly used where you wish to protect a share of your house, or your overall estate, for the benefit of your spouse or other loved one.

For more information about interest in possession trusts, please take a look at our ‘common questions about trusts and lifetime planning’ below.

Discretionary trusts

Discretionary Trusts can be used to provide for beneficiaries who are not capable of managing their own money, and also where your beneficiaries are in the process of divorcing. For vulnerable beneficiaries, such as disabled adult children who are reliant on benefits, you may complicate their situation by leaving money outright.

Nil-rate band discretionary trusts

In the past, discretionary trusts were also sometimes used where there was no option to claim the unused nil-rate band of a spouse or civil partner for Inheritance Tax purposes.  If you still have a Will including a nil-rate band discretionary trust you should contact Tayntons to discuss this.  We can advise you on the current implications and on better options for a revised Will.

Accumulation & maintenance trusts

These were a type of discretionary trust that was once commonly used as a means for providing for dependants aged 18-25. However, accumulation & maintenance trusts can no longer be created following changes to the law introduced by the Finance Act 2006.

If your current Will contains a provision for an accumulation and maintenance trust, we can advise you on updating your Will and the relevant alternative options for creating a trust to provide for dependants aged 18-25.

Advice for Trustees and Executors of Wills

If you are appointed as the Executor of a Will, a trustee or both, there are a number of duties and important responsibilities you will need to get to grips with.

We understand this can be confusing and intimidating, especially where you are not used to dealing with such matters, so can offer all the support you need to carry out your role effectively.

Tayntons solicitors and lawyers can advise you on your role and responsibilities, prepare any documents needed, formalise any transfers of property or assets and advise you as needed on the specifics of the particular Estate or Trust.

Common questions about trusts and lifetime planning

How do interest in possession trusts work?

An interest in possession trust (also commonly referred to as a ‘life interest trust’) is normally used where you wish to ensure your partner or another loved one can continue to live in your shared home if you pass away before them.

For example, if you wish to leave your estate to your children from a previous relationship, but want your current partner to be able to continue living in the house until their death were you to die before them.

Although often running for someone’s lifetime, they can also be restricted to terminate in situations like a remarriage or a permanent move out of the property into residential care.

Interest in possession trusts can also be used for care fee planning, but you need to take advice on this issue including the ‘deprivation of assets’ rules.

There may be tax implications on the creation of these trusts either during your lifetime or on death, particularly if the person you wish to provide for is not your spouse or civil partner.

Tayntons can advise on these issues and any tax considerations for your personal circumstances.

Why choose Tayntons trusts and lifetime planning solicitors?

Tayntons’ trusts and lifetime planning team have been helping people from all backgrounds to make sure their estates and their loved ones are taken care of for many years. We regularly work with clients in Gloucester and throughout Gloucestershire, including Cheltenham and the Forest of Dean.

We offer friendly, clear guidance to help you achieve your goals. We will take the time to listen to your concerns, then explain your options in plain English, so you can be confident you are making an informed decision about how to move forward.

Our team includes members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and Solicitors for the Elderly, reflecting our expertise in dealing with these complex and sensitive matters.

Tayntons has achieved the Law Society’s Lexcel accreditation in recognition of the excellence of our practice management and client care. We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) providing assurance that we continue to meet the highest legal and professional standards at all times.

Get in touch with our trusts and lifetime planning solicitors in Gloucester

Looking for expert help with trusts and lifetime planning in Gloucester, Cheltenham, the Forest of Dean or anywhere in Gloucestershire?

Please contact us today by calling 0800 158 4147, emailing info@tayntons.co.uk or requesting a call back.


Why not browse our services further by downloading our specific legal guides to help you easily understand the legal advice we offer?

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To contact us please call 0800 158 4147 or 03330 145451 or email info@tayntons.co.uk

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