Supposed free inheritance preservation seminars

MEM62

W.Ford said:

To me this sounds like a scam. 

Go with your gut instinct.  At best it will be a pressured sales environment pushing 'trusts' which, in most cases will be inappropriate, expensive and complicated.  

artyboy

Silvertabby said:

Because they work for 'Inheritance Preservation Seminars' and want to drum up business?   

I suspect it was a rhetorical question 

Searchthetruth

I’m new to this (obvs), retired, so no, don’t work for them, but I know of them and I was doing research for another family member and if you search inheritance preservation seminars this thread comes up, I don’t have to explain myself (just have though ), I doubt they are trying to drum up business as the seminars I’ve tried to get on were full, but I’m from the old school days of fiches and honest people so when I know a company isn’t a scam then I like to speak up as there’s enough doom and gloom, I do know that the leaflets are delivered by Royal Mail as a door drop not some random person just picking on the vulnerable.
I didn’t notice how old the post was so yes that’s my fault and I can see how this would look odd.

MEM62

Searchthetruth said:

I’m new to this (obvs), retired, so no, don’t work for them, but I know of them and I was doing research for another family member and if you search inheritance preservation seminars this thread comes up, I don’t have to explain myself (just have though ), I doubt they are trying to drum up business as the seminars I’ve tried to get on were full, but I’m from the old school days of fiches and honest people so when I know a company isn’t a scam then I like to speak up as there’s enough doom and gloom, I do know that the leaflets are delivered by Royal Mail as a door drop not some random person just picking on the vulnerable.
I didn’t notice how old the post was so yes that’s my fault and I can see how this would look odd.

Venues have a cost, so does preparing the presentation, marketing, and staffing the event. Therefore, something is being sold to cover these costs.  Usually trusts or some other kind of 'estate planning'.  This does not necessarily constitute a scam but it is likely to be selling something that is costly and complex to those who do not need it.   

Albermarle

MEM62 said:

Searchthetruth said:

I’m new to this (obvs), retired, so no, don’t work for them, but I know of them and I was doing research for another family member and if you search inheritance preservation seminars this thread comes up, I don’t have to explain myself (just have though ), I doubt they are trying to drum up business as the seminars I’ve tried to get on were full, but I’m from the old school days of fiches and honest people so when I know a company isn’t a scam then I like to speak up as there’s enough doom and gloom, I do know that the leaflets are delivered by Royal Mail as a door drop not some random person just picking on the vulnerable.
I didn’t notice how old the post was so yes that’s my fault and I can see how this would look odd.

Venues have a cost, so does preparing the presentation, marketing, and staffing the event. Therefore, something is being sold to cover these costs.  Usually trusts or some other kind of 'estate planning'.  This does not necessarily constitute a scam but it is likely to be selling something that is costly and complex to those who do not need it.   

As above , we see plenty of posts on here where people have been persuaded by clever lawyers to get involved in overcomplicated and expensive schemes or trusts, to try and avoid the dreaded inheritance tax or care home fees .
Then years down the line they cause all sorts of problems and headaches, often without achieving their original goals.
Basically this kind of complex estate planning is really only useful for multi millionaires, and not necessary for others, even if you are pretty well off

PerfectChoice

Well came across this discussion after a search like somebody else posted. Mixed views for sure form OK and fine to avoid as a scam.  Inheritance planning is an activity I am working on now just retired, but also wary of any hard push and sell from people I may never see again as against a local solicitor if a Will needs to be carefully worded to help matters.   Reason I searched for details was   a seminar leaflet was delivered  to my house today like another poster stated.  Details were not provided of who it was from I note but I can say my leaflet  provides the web site www.inheritance-preservation.co.uk  to look at and book. Checking that site it seems "OK"  and they have a series of seminars advertised plus  pitfall statements  like  being beware of companies promoting schemes designed to avoid care costs.But its only a web site so that doesn't mean you can trust what is stated and you get "sucked in" to something you don't want. Personally I can cover myself most of what is covered (PoA, Will) with the only area of interest is possible Trust Planning and I may not even need that with £500,000 IHT allowance (leave property to a child in Will to increase threshold).  Now while free, these things are not done without a return so by registering for the seminar they do ask for contact details and would expect a follow up contact to try and get business from me. Anybody  here  who has attended then and had a follow up call? How did it go?

Bostonerimus1

The best ways to reduce any IHT bill are long term gifting to family and/or charitable donations. Putting money into trusts just opens you up to a series of trust specific entrance, exit, IHT and income taxes as well as the complexity of managing the trust and there's no guarantee that your heirs will end up any better off.

Dead_keen

PerfectChoice said:

the only area of interest is possible Trust Planning

Just to provide a counterpoint to the people who get paid to sell trusts: 

- Telegegraph: The wills scandal that punished pensioners with £35k inheritance tax bills

- MoneyWeek: Families paying up to £5k for fake ‘asset protection’ trusts – warning signs to avoid

The Laura Miller, the author of the MoneyWeek article, posted on LinkedIn the text of an email she got:

I wanted to thank you for your recent article on trusts.It was extremely informative and I wish I had read it sooner,  and avoided quite an unsettling experience, feeling stupid for being taken in.

It all began like for so many others with a will that was drawn up for £40 and was then offered a trust for £2995 which I was told usually costs £8000 to £12000. However it became clear when I received the trust that the advice I was given was inappropriate and very misleading. I was not made aware of the ongoing costs, legal implications or limitations of the trust. My daughter told me I should not sign the trust, and showed me your article, I realised then that it is not suitable for my personal or financial circumstances. I'm so grateful you took the time to cover this issue so clearly.

Thank you again for shedding light on a subject that I now know affects so many people. I do hope this miss selling can be given more attention and exposure so it will stop so many people being sold trust that are not suitable for their needs, and they end up no longer in control of their assets.

Kind regards

poseidon1

As someone who administered and advised on trusts for the very wealthy, pretty much my entire working life, discretionary trusts have little or no role to play in the affairs of the vast majority of the ordinary general public.

Qualifying IPDI trusts can make sense in some family situations but such trusts never  save on IHT. At best they preserve the blanket exemption for testamentary gifts between spouses, where for what ever reason, outright gifts to the surviving spouse are not suitable ( blended families as an example).

From what I have observed on MSE forums the majority of people with no IHT exposure at all, are seduced into setting up wholly unsuitable trusts primarily to avoid potential care home fees, with the surviving beneficiaries having to deal with the fallout from their parent's ill considered decision. 

Albermarle

poseidon1 said:

As someone who administered and advised on trusts for the very wealthy, pretty much my entire working life, discretionary trusts have little or no role to play in the affairs of the vast majority of the ordinary general public.

Qualifying IPDI trusts can make sense in some family situations but such trusts never  save on IHT. At best they preserve the blanket exemption for testamentary gifts between spouses, where for what ever reason, outright gifts to the surviving spouse are not suitable ( blended families as an example).

From what I have observed on MSE forums the majority of people with no IHT exposure at all, are seduced into setting up wholly unsuitable trusts primarily to avoid potential care home fees, with the surviving beneficiaries having to deal with the fallout from their parent's ill considered decision. 

I have the impression that even 'well off' households ( the type who regularly post on this forum for example) who will probably be liable for significant amounts of IHT, are still best to avoid trusts if at all possible. In the end it is probably simpler to reduce wealth by giving it away, or spending it and then just pay any tax that is due.

You mention the 'very wealthy' and ' the general public ' in your post, but I think even the 'Mass affluent' are best to avoid them even if they are worth a Couple of Million or so?