Trusts & Executorships
Advising trustees and executors; administration of trusts and estates; accounting and tax planning issues
Running a trust is a responsible role – a trustee must look after a trust as he would look after his own personal affairs. This involves wealth management, making investment decisions and balancing the needs of the different beneficiaries of the trust (looking at income versus capital needs). We can provide the full support that trustees may need to administer the trust assets (either on a day-to-day basis or on a periodic review basis). We can act as professional trustee giving expert guidance in running the trust. Our service includes, as you would expect, preparing clear and timely annual accounts for trustees. Since 2006 many more trusts are now exposed to periodic Inheritance Tax charges and our specialist tax team can advise on this potential tax charge. We can offer advice on asset valuations. We will offer suggestions as to how any Inheritance Tax charge may best be mitigated. This helps the trustees take informed and positive action before the IHT anniversary is reached. We can deal with all HM Revenue & Customs administration for the trustees – filing self-assessment trust tax returns annually; filing periodic Inheritance Tax returns including IHT returns when assets are passed to beneficiaries. We will advise the trustees on how much tax to pay and when to pay it.
Our executorship service dovetails with our trust experience. We can help the executors (often the bereaved spouse) to administer the estate – ensuring all assets are accounted for properly and distributions are made to the correct beneficiaries. We can act as professional executor, as part of our estate planning service. We can prepare periodic estate accounts and deal with HMRC self-assessment returns – advising on tax payments and deadlines. We work closely with solicitors as they apply for probate to ensure you get the best executorship service.
