Discretionary Trust - most effective way to set up

enator

roadweary wrote: »

You see £400 p.a. to administer a fund that will have the minimum (£5?) starter investment and then for possibly many years will only have a few thousand in it, seems a bad way of preserving the money for my son....

We have two Trusts, so a single one would be £200 p.a. - is that such a burden? You can pay those fees yourself, they don't have to be taken from the Trust.

roadweary

enator wrote: »

We have two Trusts, so a single one would be £200 p.a. - is that such a burden? You can pay those fees yourself, they don't have to be taken from the Trust.

I guess not although I have no point of reference. Is that £200 a flat fee regardless of the amount in the Trust?

steampowered

I think there are two ways of approaching this:

1) Setting up the trust now, with you and/or your parents putting property in the trust.

2) You and your parents having your wills drafted so that the property is put in trust on your deaths.

If the trust does not become operative until death, I wouldn't have thought you'd be paying an administration charge until that point.

I really think you should pay to see a specialist to get advice on this and get things done professionally. A few hundred quid is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things.

enator

roadweary wrote: »

I guess not although I have no point of reference. Is that £200 a flat fee regardless of the amount in the Trust?

Yes, just covers admin to ensure Trust stays within HMRC rules.

roadweary

steampowered wrote: »

I think there are two ways of approaching this:

1) Setting up the trust now, with you and/or your parents putting property in the trust.

2) You and your parents having your wills drafted so that the property is put in trust on your deaths.

If the trust does not become operative until death, I wouldn't have thought you'd be paying an administration charge until that point.

I really think you should pay to see a specialist to get advice on this and get things done professionally. A few hundred quid is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things.

Hi,

Yes, agreed. Even knowing the best place to seek that professional advice isn't that clear.

I may start with Mencap.

The Discretionary Trust will not really serve any purpose until my son has finished his education so it may be that even any inheritance he might get from my parents could just as well sit in a bank account in his name until that point.

Thanks,
R

roadweary

enator wrote: »

Yes, just covers admin to ensure Trust stays within HMRC rules.

Thanks, could I trouble you for the details of the people that advised and set this up for you?

Please feel free to PM if you prefer.

Regards,
R

enator

http://www.knights1759.co.uk/

Other lawyers are available

They are a big company, with fees to match - you could probably find a cheaper, smaller one with a bit of research. Should be STEP though, don't use anyone else.

http://www.step.org/