Running a Trust

jameswardle

Hi everyone 

Do you have any experience of running a Trust you can share with me.?

My mother who was my brother's carer passed away last year and left her house and some shares in her will to A  Discretionary trust.

I'm the trustee of this trust and my brother is the beneficiary, we have just gotten probate, and now I need to work out what I do and dont put in the trust. to provide for my brother.

Do you have any suggestions on how best I can fund things for my brother?
Any tip for not paying too much tax.  Trusts seem to be a minefield?
Any suggestions for a good Solicitor or Accountant who is experienced in running trusts for a vulnerable adult?  I have a solicitor but they are not experienced enough and I'm going to change.

Thanks

James

janer1967

Hi and welcome glad you have reached out for help this must be a minefield 

I dont really know who to signpost you to for help 

Maybe CAB could help 

I hope other members will be able to give you more advice 

endowarrierqueen96

Keep daily records. I recommend a electronic spreadsheet which is updated monthly or weekly of all ongoing costs. Failing that, try keeping a finance diary of expenses etc for any specialist equipment, special needs childcare and so on.
Alternatively you can jot down all the costs on a empty blank Word document and print off two copies each week. Make a note of what goes in and comes out of your main bank account too. Colour code finances, for example medical expenses blue, school related fees are in red, yellow denotes childcare fees, and green is for all the other stuff like new furniture. That way you can monitor your expenditure.
See what the monthly trends are and so on. Store all important finance paperwork in a lockable safe for your peace of mind. Always make double copies in the event of a unwanted robbery or power failure. Best of luck. 

woodbine

hi @jameswardle I would suggest asking your current solicitor for recommendations for someone with more experience, failing that you could contact the law society for help.

TemplarEP

Hi there. I notice you posted this a while ago. I always recommend using a professional trustee in conjunction with relatives or people you trust. The costs aren't that high and could save you a lot of money or tax in the long run.

jameswardle

Thanks, Everyone for the feedback

In the end, I took advice from https://www.renaissancelegal.co.uk/.  who are specialist Solicitors and this helped greatly with  the trust planning (such a radically different and better experience to my original solicitor)

I found an experienced IFA Craig Harwood at https://choicefinancialsolutions.com/ who provided very good advice for trust investments to minimise tax costs and met the investment needs of my brother.  We have purchased an offshore bond, which sounds a bit scary but is basically like an ISA for trust from standard life in Dublin.

Finding a Bank was reasonably hard,  in the end, Barclays were the "easiest" and most cost-effective to set up a trust bank account with

I chose not to use a Professional trustee, and two family members have agreed to act as trustees, (we are a bit unusual perhaps as one of us is a solicitor (not a trust specialist) and the other experienced in financial modelling). I can see a professional trustee can be the right answer for many people but its important to find a good one.

I think the one thing I've learned from all this is that if you are not getting good advice and support from your solicitor get another one! 

TemplarEP

Really glad to hear you've found the solution you're looking for. 

You've made a good point, being a solicitor yourself, the need to use a specialist in trusts or estate planning. We have had many clients come to us after having bad experiences with some solicitors. Some feel obliged to stick with their one or the one that drafted the will.

Best wishes,

David

Templar Estate Planning