Will trust for young grandchildren - it's messy / complicated

Curly_one_2

Hello

I have no will, and wish for just my two very young grandchildren to benefit from my estate upon my death.

I want to set up a will trust with a solicitor asap.

I have problems in that I do not want the children to have access to the trust funds until they are 21-25 years old, and I also do not want their parents to be executors / trustees.

Unfortunately I have no one else to fulfil the roles either.

I have read a little about the different types of will trusts and for minors there are 'bare trusts'

If I choose to stipulate no access to funds until age 21 or over, then I believe I need a will with a fixed-interest trust.

My head is spinning with it all, and on top, I'll have to spend a lot of money having a solicitor as executor / trustee, with yearly fees?

Have I got this right so far with what I've read please?

Thank you

relaxtwotribes

Are you absolutely sure that you want to exclude any future grandchildren and leave your estate to your two existing grandchildren as you state?

Keep_pedalling

The only way to achieve both aims would be for the will to establish a discretionary trust (DT) but there are reasons these are rarely used. The first is they are a pain for the trustees to manage, so if you are going to depend on professional trustees then the charges are going to be high. DTs also come with high levels of taxation for both income and capital gains. Finally if you are planing to put the bulk of your estate into a DT then your executors will be unable to use the residential NRB and your estate could end up paying a lot more IHT than it would otherwise. 

For the above reasons people often write wills with age restrictions that are not enforceable because the beneficiaries are entitled to their inheritance absolutely so they are entitled to claim it once they reach 18 (16 in Scotland). Such clauses are nearly wishes that the testator hopes that their beneficiaries will stick too, but even if they do it can present tax issues for them if the amount we are talking about is substantial. 

Spendless

A lot of people want their beneficiaries to inherit at an older age than 18 concerned that it'll be wasted at that age. The needs of an 18yo to enable choices are often greater than in their 20s. Let's face it  the huge majority of kids turning 18 don't have a great deal. Even if they've worked before becoming an adult  their hours have been restricted by employment rules and/or school/college studies.

Taking ,my 2  at 18 as an example my eldest was learning to drive (passed at 18 has never been able to afford a car)  and discovering how the student maintenance loan worked and asking me how he could ever afford to go to a  Uni  of his choice (only eligible for min loan which didn't cover rent).

Youngest was wanting to pursue something that isn't commutable from where we live and interested in a course which didn't attract public funding.

Bank of Mum and Dad made these above things possible  for our kids. What if we'd said No though either because we didn't wish to help or weren't in a position to? Both would have had to put their ambitions  on hold, take up other options and possibly come back to them later on in life. How frustrating would it have been to know that money had been left to them which would have enabled their plans but though they needed it now they couldn't have it until 3-7 years into the future. 

You've mentioned young grandchildren but not how old you are. Are you a 40-something in good health or in your 70s in not so good. Accepting none of us actually know, how likely is it that you'll see your Grandchildren into adulthood anyway? Obviously you have your reasons for wanting grandkids rather than your own children to inherit and not wanting parents as trustees  which you don't need to go into here but maybe examine why you don't wish Grandchildren to inherit at 18 and what that wish will entail.  

Marcon

Secret and half-secret trusts can be useful things in certain circumstances. Worth discussing with your solicitor.