Trustee bank account

Loolah70

Following the death of my father, my mother is moving house. As per his will, half of the profits from the sale of the house go to myself and my brother. We want to open an account in 'Trustees of Mr X' so that the money can be shared out without anyone being penalized on taxes. Is this possible and if so, can anyone recommend a bank? TIA.

sheramber

What taxes are you referring to?

General_Grant

Loolah70 said:

Following the death of my father, my mother is moving house. As per his will, half of the profits from the sale of the house go to myself and my brother. We want to open an account in 'Trustees of Mr X' so that the money can be shared out without anyone being penalized on taxes. Is this possible and if so, can anyone recommend a bank? TIA.

What was the basis on which the house was owned?  Was it just in your father's name?

HobgoblinBT

Trusts are seen as high risk by banks due to ownership/control/source of funds and source of wealth being seen as more complicated than for “normal” accounts.  They therefore need to carry out a higher level of due diligence before opening an account and update their due diligence more frequently than for other customers.  As such my experience is that trust accounts are not of interest to the high street banks due to the regulatory requirements unless the trust has connection to a big relationship.

 

I maintain a trust account with one of the high street banks which was opened by a specialist team whilst I was still an employee.  I now have to pay £10 per month to maintain the account with no frills, ie no internet access or card access.  I also maintain trust assets/investments with Hargreaves Lansdown which allows the holding of funds but not shares without a regulatory registration of the trust.  If you have a good relationship with your bank, ie lots of products/mortgage/private banking etc and/or business relationship you could approach them, to see if they can help.  

I have looked at Metro Bank but given the amount of work involved am not keen to switch myself, but they seem to be one of the few institutions still willing to open a Trust account.  

Be aware of the tax implications and obligations of a trust.  Refer to the very helpful UK. gov website under “Trusts and Taxes” .

Hope this helps.

Marchitiello

HobgoblinBT said:

Trusts are seen as high risk by banks due to ownership/control/source of funds and source of wealth being seen as more complicated than for “normal” accounts.  …

Hope this helps.

However, depending on the money involved, most high Street banks have a “Private Bank” division that would be very versed in dealing with Trusts etc. 

Ergates

HobgoblinBT said:

Trusts are seen as high risk by banks due to ownership/control/source of funds and source of wealth being seen as more complicated than for “normal” accounts.  They therefore need to carry out a higher level of due diligence before opening an account and update their due diligence more frequently than for other customers.  As such my experience is that trust accounts are not of interest to the high street banks due to the regulatory requirements unless the trust has connection to a big relationship.

 

I maintain a trust account with one of the high street banks which was opened by a specialist team whilst I was still an employee.  I now have to pay £10 per month to maintain the account with no frills, ie no internet access or card access.  I also maintain trust assets/investments with Hargreaves Lansdown which allows the holding of funds but not shares without a regulatory registration of the trust.  If you have a good relationship with your bank, ie lots of products/mortgage/private banking etc and/or business relationship you could approach them, to see if they can help.  

I have looked at Metro Bank but given the amount of work involved am not keen to switch myself, but they seem to be one of the few institutions still willing to open a Trust account.  

Be aware of the tax implications and obligations of a trust.  Refer to the very helpful UK. gov website under “Trusts and Taxes” .

Hope this helps.

I work at a bank, we have loads of perfectly "normal" trust accounts, set up as the OP describes, so I would dispute that high street banks are not interested in them.

xylophone

As per his will, half of the profits from the sale of the house go to myself and my brother.

Is this what the will actually said?

Or was the case that your parents were tenants-in-common and your father's will stated that when the property was sold, his share of the proceeds of sale was to be shared between you and your brother?

Has the executor of your father's estate opened an executor's account?

If so, it would be logical for  your late father's share of the proceeds of sale to be paid into the exor account and then disbursed to you and your brother?

Why do you and your brother think that you have to pay tax on the bequest?

Surely any IHT due on your father's estate has been dealt with by his executor?