Contents
All change for pensions
A waste of time & money
Tax credit mess
Fuel up (shock)
Gimme shelter
Gulp! SIPPS
Paper or plastic?
Re: Mortgages
Bank the cheque
Subs beware
VAT's the limit
Dividend end?
The buck stops
Sack with care
Selling up
A matter of trust
We're watching
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Trusts are often used for looking after money in families. Sometimes they are set up for fancy tax planning reasons; sometimes they are just to protect the money until someone is old enough to deal with it themselves. Whatever the reason, the trust will have consequences for tax, and also for the property in it - for instance, if a property or an investment is owned by a trust, it's the trustees who have to decide when it can be sold and what happens with the money. They have to take account of the best interests of the beneficiaries of the trust, but it's the trustees who take the decisions and sign the paperwork. One of the problems with trusts is that they often last a long time. A trust set up for a child at birth might end 25 years later. A trust set up in the will of a husband might come to an end when his widow dies, and that could be many years later. In the meantime, the trust may not have much effect - for instance, the widow might just carry on living in a house that is held on trust, and the trustees don't have to do anything. When something needs to be done, it may be hard to find the trust documents. The adviser who suggested it may have retired, the reasons may be forgotten, the trustees may not have done anything for so long that they have forgotten what it was all about. If you have anything to do with a family trust, it's worth making sure that you have a copy of the trust deeds and any correspondence there was about setting it up. Your advisers should also keep copies, but if you change advisers, it will be easier for the new ones if you have all the paperwork. |
© Bayar Hughes & Co., 2010.