Mums house in a trust

Worried_of_wakefield

There may be capital gains tax for the Trust to pay when your Mum has died,

Hmmm, what are the circumstances for this to come to effect?

Worried_of_wakefield

Just a thought, have you been paying the upkeep of the home during the past 10 years? As your Mother continues to have the full benefit of the house, has she been paying a normal rent for occupation, or has the Trust been worded to cover this benefit. A gift whilst retaining the benefit of that gift is not deemed to be a gift and as such will remain part of her estate value.

No, we have only recently found out about the trust

getmore4less

You need to find out what sort of trust.

SeniorSam

It sounds very much like the Trust will be in doubt. Find out who your Mum dealt with to set the Trust up and if this was a solicitor, then they may still have copies on file. Also check the Land Registry as already mentioned. If the Trust was correctly set up, then Trustees should have been appointed. Who are they and are they family members or professionals such as Accountants or Solicitors.

Worried_of_wakefield

You need to find out what sort of trust.

I have found the trust document and a hand written 'bill of sale' describing it as a Inter Vivos Trust if I am reading it correctly

xylophone

Who are the Trustees of the Living Trust?

http://www.estatesortrusts.co.uk/setting-up-living-trust-step-step-guide.html

Worried_of_wakefield

Who are the Trustees of the Living Trust?

Appears to be two of us ( beneficiary's)

SeniorSam

Appears to be? Are your names mentioned in the actual Will that sets up the Trust?
As you have not been paying the upkeep of the house, then the gift will be considered as still being hers as she has not given away the benefit. Suggest that yo seek legal advice as soon as possible. The concern would be that if your Mother need to go into care, then the property would be considered as her asset, so it's value could be totally lost should that care cost continue for a long time.

If the Trust was set up in addition to the Will, then you should have been notified, as Trustees.

Worried_of_wakefield

Appears to be? Are your names mentioned in the actual Will that sets up the Trust?

Apologies, I need to be more specific.
There is a will and also a separate trust document

Declaration of trust - item 2 states I hereby declare etc etc, I shall as trustee of thereof hold the property with upon and subject to the trusts thereof.... signed 'mum'

Main trust doc - states item 5 appointment of trustees - by ( myself and one brother) acting jointly during the subsistence of this settlement or the survivor of them

To confirm I have always been aware that if the local authority wish to recover care costs they can and may well do so, no matter that my mother believes otherwise. So I'm still of the opinion this is pretty much a worthless document but should not hinder probate once that time arrives.... I think!

Again many thanks

pip895

To the uninitiated, it sounds as though this trust could actually be a liability rather than an asset - might it be worthwhile dissolving it whilst mum is in a position to do so?

No idea how easy this is to do - are trusts registered somewhere? Can you just shred them...?

Dad set up a discretionary offshore trust for my sister and I - As he did make it to the 7 years boundary it did work but might very easily not have done. By the time charges and fees are taken into account + lower returns on it compared to his ISA + the tax we are likely to pay when we draw it down, I think the net effect will have been simply to divert money we would have paid to the government into the hands of IFAs and solicitors etc.