Trusts for the future

What will happen to your pension, assets, and other investments, when you are not around anymore?

More than two hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin wrote that, “in this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” That’s still true, and Wealth & Tax Management can help you in both cases. We’ll minimise your tax bill during your life and ensure that your estate goes to the people you want it to.

This means not only limiting the impact of Inheritance Tax but also implementing trusts so that your possessions and pension income reach your loved ones.

For example…

Put yourself in the position of one of our clients: let’s call him George (but that’s not his real name). George has a wife, Mary, and two children. He’s left a will and knows that, in the event of his death, his pension will continue to be paid to Mary. And if Mary dies, it will all go to the children.

What George hadn’t considered was what might happen if Mary remarries after his death. That would give her new husband rights over George’s pension and, in the worst case scenario, should Mary predecease her second husband, he can leave their assets to anyone he likes. George and Mary’s children might receive nothing.

The simple solution is an Asset Preservation Trust. The pension (and possibly other assets) is placed in the trust, which will pay out to Mary but give her new husband no rights at all. On Mary’s death, the trust goes to the children.

Eleven Trusts to safeguard your assets

Working in partnership with Solidus Independent Estate Planning, Wealth & Tax Management will help you to select and implement the most appropriate trust from the following:

•    The Assurance Trust™, designed to hold all of your life policies in one tailored trust.
•    The Asset Preservation Trust™, designed as a spousal bypass trust, which can hold pension and death in service benefits.
•    The Mortgage Trust™, designed to hold mortgage related benefits.
•    The Protective Gifting Trust™, designed to protect lifetime gifts to children and to hold annual exemption gifts.
•    The Solidus Gift and Loan Trust™, for use with one or more new or existing policies.
•    The Solidus Discounted Gift Trust™, for use with one or more new or existing policies.
•    The Beneficiary Preservation Trust™, effective planning for the estates of single persons.
•    The Beneficiary Preservation Trust™, effective planning for the simpler estates of married couples.
•    The Solidus Trust Plan™, designed for larger estates of married couples or partnerships.
•    The Solidus Business Trust™, addressing the specialist needs of business owners, a frequently sub-optimised area of planning.
•    The Solidus Property Trust™, to house additional properties and buy-to-let assets.

To find out more about trusts and asset preservation, please call us on 01908 260418 or book onto one of our free seminars.