IHT and Nil Rate Band Trust

Supernova

Jeremy535897 said:

I assume you mean the solicitor retired from his firm, rather than retired as a trustee (otherwise there would be no issue)? Mere retirement from the firm means he is still a trustee, although he may wish to retire as trustee. Talk to the firm of solicitors involved. The trust deed (apparently in the will) will set out what happens on the retirement of a trustee. Normally someone else has to be appointed in his place.

Thanks Jeremy.
Indeed...from the firm...
So, he is still trustee, only in a personal capacity? Is that normal, or even ethical or at least is it wise to have set it up thus?
S

Jeremy535897

Supernova said:

Jeremy535897 said:

I assume you mean the solicitor retired from his firm, rather than retired as a trustee (otherwise there would be no issue)? Mere retirement from the firm means he is still a trustee, although he may wish to retire as trustee. Talk to the firm of solicitors involved. The trust deed (apparently in the will) will set out what happens on the retirement of a trustee. Normally someone else has to be appointed in his place.

Thanks Jeremy.
Indeed...from the firm...
So, he is still trustee, only in a personal capacity? Is that normal, or even ethical or at least is it wise to have set it up thus?
S

It is quite common for a partner in a professional firm to be an individual trustee, because the two other options, a trust company or a trust corporation, have their own disadvantages (a trust company cannot be a sole trustee, and a trust corporation is expensive). The firm should have gone through the retiring partner's cases and organised a deed of retirement and appointment of new trustee, with a standard indemnity, for each one, but that can be a considerable undertaking, as all the other trustees of each trust have to be contacted. You should contact the firm, as he is still a trustee, and agree what needs to be done.

Supernova

Jeremy535897 sai

It is quite common for a partner in a professional firm to be an individual trustee, because the two other options, a trust company or a trust corporation, have their own disadvantages (a trust company cannot be a sole trustee, and a trust corporation is expensive). The firm should have gone through the retiring partner's cases and organised a deed of retirement and appointment of new trustee, with a standard indemnity, for each one, but that can be a considerable undertaking, as all the other trustees of each trust have to be contacted. You should contact the firm, as he is still a trustee, and agree what needs to be done.

Thanks Jeremy,
He is joint Trustee with one beneficiary and yes I would have thought that all concerned should have been contacted when he retired 2 years ago. In my experience he was pretty appalling in terms of service, efficiency, attention to detail and price.

For my own will I was looking at an NRB Trust and a different firms leaflet advises using their trust company along with the beneficiary...because of the pitfalls of using a named partner...
S

Jeremy535897

Supernova said:

Jeremy535897 sai

It is quite common for a partner in a professional firm to be an individual trustee, because the two other options, a trust company or a trust corporation, have their own disadvantages (a trust company cannot be a sole trustee, and a trust corporation is expensive). The firm should have gone through the retiring partner's cases and organised a deed of retirement and appointment of new trustee, with a standard indemnity, for each one, but that can be a considerable undertaking, as all the other trustees of each trust have to be contacted. You should contact the firm, as he is still a trustee, and agree what needs to be done.

Thanks Jeremy,
He is joint Trustee with one beneficiary and yes I would have thought that all concerned should have been contacted when he retired 2 years ago. In my experience he was pretty appalling in terms of service, efficiency, attention to detail and price.

For my own will I was looking at an NRB Trust and a different firms leaflet advises using their trust company along with the beneficiary...because of the pitfalls of using a named partner...
S

Supernova said:

Jeremy535897 sai

It is quite common for a partner in a professional firm to be an individual trustee, because the two other options, a trust company or a trust corporation, have their own disadvantages (a trust company cannot be a sole trustee, and a trust corporation is expensive). The firm should have gone through the retiring partner's cases and organised a deed of retirement and appointment of new trustee, with a standard indemnity, for each one, but that can be a considerable undertaking, as all the other trustees of each trust have to be contacted. You should contact the firm, as he is still a trustee, and agree what needs to be done.

Thanks Jeremy,
He is joint Trustee with one beneficiary and yes I would have thought that all concerned should have been contacted when he retired 2 years ago. In my experience he was pretty appalling in terms of service, efficiency, attention to detail and price.

For my own will I was looking at an NRB Trust and a different firms leaflet advises using their trust company along with the beneficiary...because of the pitfalls of using a named partner...
S

The downside is that if the beneficiary dies, you have a sole trustee situation with a trust company. One solution is to have two trust companies (owned by the same firm) with the beneficiary as the third trustee, but that may not be desirable if the trustees can act by majority.

Supernova

Jeremy535897 said:

The downside is that if the beneficiary dies, you have a sole trustee situation with a trust company. One solution is to have two trust companies (owned by the same firm) with the beneficiary as the third trustee, but that may not be desirable if the trustees can act by majority.

Thanks Jeremy. What can the beneficiary do in terms of bequeathing the trust on to descendents etc.

Jeremy535897

The trust deed will provide that information.

Supernova

Jeremy535897 said:

The trust deed will provide that information.

The will makes reference to clauses 8, 9 and 10 but the solicitor didn't send copies of those so hard to tell... 
Thanks for your help, Jeremy...food for thought 
S

Jeremy535897

Supernova said:

Jeremy535897 said:

The trust deed will provide that information.

The will makes reference to clauses 8, 9 and 10 but the solicitor didn't send copies of those so hard to tell... 
Thanks for your help, Jeremy...food for thought 
S

As a trustee, the current beneficiary should have a copy of the will and any other legal documents relating to the trust.