This week’s post aims to give readers a refresher on Business Property Relief (BPR). It should be noticed that BPR is a large and complex area of tax, so what follows is only a brief overview of the area. BPR is a relief from Inheritance Tax (IHT) that transfers of certain qualifying business assets may…
It is a well-established principle of law that all non-charitable English trusts must have a beneficiary to enforce the trust and hold the trustee to his obligations. This concept is referred to as the beneficiary principle. A trust that does not have defined beneficiaries and sets out to benefit a specific purpose will be void,…
Stamp Duty Land Tax & Trusts Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax charged on the consideration given for the sale of land in the UK. As it is only charged on transfers for consideration it is usually not applied to gifts or transfers to a trust. The exception to this is where the…
We are commonly asked how many trustees should be appointed as well as just who it is appropriate to appoint. Today we hope to address this. How many? How many trustees are required differs depending on whether the trust holds land. Where a trust holds land, no matter what type of trust, a minimum of…
Secret and Half-Secret Trusts Once admitted to probate a Will becomes available for the public to view. So then how would a testator benefit a person by his Will while keeping this disposition concealed? Enter the “secret trust”. A secret trust arises where a testator leaves property to a person (A) in his Will, but…
What is a FLIT? A Flexible Life Interest Trust can allow a person to benefit immediately upon the death of a testator (Immediate Post Death Interest Trust), all whilst protecting the value of assets for others. This type of trust operates in a very similar way to a discretionary trust. In what circumstances would a…
What is Discretionary Trust? Why would you use it? A common complaint we hear from members of the public is that they don’t understand the products and services they have been sold. It is important to note that we receive a large number of calls and not all are about SWW members. One of the…
