Finding an advisor to help me use trust money without bringing it back into estate

Wirebird

My mother is 99 and currently in care. I have PoA. I want to use trust money that my father left me with herself as a trustee, plus trust investments where we are both trustees (that moved her money out of estate, being created in 2001), plus the sale of her house, to buy a bigger house where I can live with her and care for her (I would keep my own house, this new house would be in her and the trust's name). My dilemma is that all the trust money (in various investments with us both as trustees of each investment) is out of estate and I do not want to incur financial liabilities such as income tax, or to accidentally bring it back into estate, in doing this. There won;t be an MRV, the investment companies have confirmed. My solicitor says I need a financial advisor for this but my mum's finances are in a total mess because of issues with a previous financial advisor. So I am terrified to drain more of the money away with a bad advisor ... how can I find one with guaranteed expertise in trusts and estates and inheritance when the person at the centre is still alive? I have found that when simply googling, those who claim the expertise don't want to be involved (ie they don't really have the expertise and can only handle very simple cases). I have seen a house I like so am keen to sort this urgently!

propertyrental

If you are the Beneficiary of the trusts, then it matters not a jot who the trustees are. The trust money is ythe Beneficiary's, not the Estate's. And assuming the trust was set up more than 7 years ago, IHT would not be an issue. There may, of course, be a 'chargeable event' when the funds are realised/sold, which could trigger Income Tax depending on your IT status /threshold.

The house is less clear. Are you saying

* she is the sole owner of the house?

* the money generated from the house sale would be hers

* any gift she made of that money, whether cash or part-ownership of a new house, whether that be in your name or a trust's name, would be subject to the 7 year rule regarding Inheritance Tax on gifts

As for your question, sorry, no idea how to identify a knowledgeable trust/tax advisor other than the obvious sources.

And my advice above is non-professional - just based on similar experience.

Wirebird

Thanks - she is the sole owner of the house and would be co-owner with trust money of the new house, using income from her house sale plus use of trust bonds. My worry is that if I use the bond money (which is outside IHT being 11 years old) I will have to pay IT on that as a charegeable event even if that money goes straight across to a conveyancer and into a house trust, That is what I am trying to avoid!

propertyrental

If the new house is jointly owned by your mother and the trust, it would need to be owned as 'Tenants In Common' with a deed specifying the proportions, eg she owns 70% (taken from sale of current house) and trust owns 30%.

If /when she dies, 70% of the value of the property at that time would fall within her Estate for IHT purposes.

The 30% owned by the trust may have a Capital Gains liability as the Beneficiary of the trust (you) does not live there so does not benefit from PPR relief.

Selling bonds in the trust (in order to finance the house purchase) might trigger a chargeable event for income tax purposes.

But I'm not a financial advisor. If you need one search the professional body and find one local to you.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-sell-home