Asset Protection Plans

madbadrob

Mrs Mouth your speech sounds like you work for such company and as such you are misleading everyone here. You only need to go through the broadsheets and you will find a lot of these trusts that have failed. A search on google will also bring many up as well.

If as I suspect you are someone who works for one of these companies you should come out and say you work in that field also back up your arguments with case studies as we who are advising against them have done.

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/press-releases/the-law-society-and-north-east-trading-standards-association-warn-consumers-about-property-protection-trust-wills/

The Alzheimers society forum covers this very well.

Rob

MrsMouth

I do a lot of Trust work and I am aware of many providers that do Asset Protection Trust work.

If you want to do everything you can to give yourself the best chance of taking your property out of the calculation, the planning is out there.

If someone is already suffering with ill health and care is anticipated, or become a reality within six months of the establishment of the trust, it's not going to work. Anything more, you at least have a fight on your hands.

I have seen them work. Some people don't agree with them because of their politics - but you can take steps to try and protect your assets if you want to. It's up to the individual. No promises, which is where a lot of providers go wrong in selling these things - they are not a guarantee.

madbadrob

I am not against anyone stopping the government getting their hands on money they are not entitled to hence my line of work. I am not against trusts per se in fact again I dont agree that someone who has worked all their life paid all their taxes etc and saved their cash for rainy days or to make sure their offspring get an inheritance should be lost to care fees. That said I am a great believer in kids taking care of their parents and that care homes should be a last resort. A presonal belief and one others may disagree with.

What I do dislike greatly is the way these companies sell these products and target the elderly. Their selling techniques are at best direputable and usually illegal. I think there as to be a change in law and these companies regulated.

Rob

MrsMouth

I agree with you that a lot of them are sold using 'misinformation' (i.e. they are 'guaranteed' to work when they can be no such thing when we are talking about lifetime gifting).

BUT the fact is you MAY, in the right circumstances, be glad that you took such a step.

If you are going to do it, surely the best thing to do is use a provider that will refund you the cost of the product if the planning doesn't work.

I am aware, as I said, of at least one company that sells the product on an insurance backed basis (there may well be others). If you transfer your share of a property into Trust and go into care more than six months after doing the planning, you are refunded your fee for the work if the house is not disregarded by the LA. So you will be in no worse a position even if it topples over at a later date.

If you're going to do it, that's got to be the best way for a consumer to go.

I am aware of another company that charges a very high fee up front but will correspond with the LA on your behalf to defend the planning if you go into care and the disposition is looked at. I hear that to date they have never lost a case. Of course, the first one could always be around the corner. I suspect the challenges will only get more agressive as time goes by in the economic climate with an ageing population, as we are.

It would be nice if people weren't forced to take such steps - but we are where we are. And none of us has a) an expiration date or b) a crystal ball, so we have no way of knowing which of us will end up in care or not. If we did, it would all be so much easier.

jimip

Many thanks again for all your responses and comments.

One other point, the company suggests putting savings in to the plan as well. When I asked the question about who receives the interest on savings I was told their money would be taken out of their current savings plans and paid into the trust but they would still have access. No mention of interest. Again, a bit worrying as they currently use their saving interest to help top up their pensions.

Certainly helped me decide that at the very least I will try my hardest to get them to talk to a solicitor whether they go ahead or not.