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How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

including wills and probate
richfool
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How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351830

Postby richfool » October 29th, 2020, 8:40 pm

Is this an appropriate way to deal with one's estate when you want to provide for your new (younger) wife and also leave an inheritance to each of your adult children from a previous marriage?

I want to leave the property, which is owned in my sole name, for my wife to live in for as long as she wants, or until she either remarries, or returns to her home country to live, or until she passes away if sooner. Upon its sale, I would want the proceeds to be split between my wife, if she is still alive, and my adult children from my first marriage, in pre-determined proportions of my choosing.

My liquid assets, (ISA's, investments, savings etc), I would wish to be split between all (wife and adult children), immediately after my demise (subject to probate etc), in the same predetermined proportions, - i.e. without waiting for the eventual disposal of the property.

Is it reasonable to approach the situation in that way. I don't really want to leave the distribution of all the assets until the property is sold, as if my wife lived on in the property for the rest of her life that could mean my adult children would have to wait a long time to inherit anything. By distributing the liquid assets at the earlier point, my wife would then also have some funds to support her, either in the UK, or if she decided to return/retire back to her own country, to support her there. And my(adult) children would get something sooner, rather than later as well.

Is such a course of action viable and sensible, and if so, what would actually happen, particularly in terms of ownership of the property, upon my passing? Would the property be held in trust by the Executors/Trustees of my Will, until the eventual sale of the property (and the further distribution of funds take place)? If such a course of action is viable, would the value of the property be taken into account in Probate upon my death, and any potential liability for IHT arise at that time? Or, because the property would be held in trust would it fall outside of consideration for such things? If the latter, does a potential IHT liability arise upon its eventual sale (instead of at the earlier point)?

If my wife continued to live in the property upon my passing, am I right in thinking that in such situations, transfers of property or other assets between spouses are IHT exempt? Therefore, would this situation amount to the same in IHT terms, as/although the property would be held in trust for my wife and my adult children from the previous marriage?

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351843

Postby Lootman » October 29th, 2020, 9:53 pm

richfool wrote:If my wife continued to live in the property upon my passing, am I right in thinking that in such situations, transfers of property or other assets between spouses are IHT exempt? Therefore, would this situation amount to the same in IHT terms, as/although the property would be held in trust for my wife and my adult children from the previous marriage?

You mentioned the home country of your wife. There are special rules where the spouse of a UK person is non-domiciled. In such cases the UK government has historically taken the view that the usual IHT-immunity that exists between spouses does not apply. That view was questioned recently, under EU rules i believe, but that is obviously now all subject to Brexit.

So I would not assume that spousal transfers, whether through gifts whilst you are alive or bequests via probate, are immune from IHT. But that said if, as surely often happens, the non-dom spouse has custody of the assets and promptly leaves the UK after death, then I cannot conceive how HMRC is ever successful in collecting the IHT they claim is due. At least I cannot see a foreign court supporting that claim.

Obviously if there are UK beneficiaries remaining in the UK, then they would be legitimate targets for HMRC.

If it were me I would make gifts equal to the IHT NRB allowance every 7 years to my UK children. And then leave the rest to my non-dom spouse who one might reasonably expect to be able to avoid IHT practically, if not technically.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351855

Postby richfool » October 29th, 2020, 10:44 pm

Lootman wrote:
richfool wrote:If my wife continued to live in the property upon my passing, am I right in thinking that in such situations, transfers of property or other assets between spouses are IHT exempt? Therefore, would this situation amount to the same in IHT terms, as/although the property would be held in trust for my wife and my adult children from the previous marriage?

You mentioned the home country of your wife. There are special rules where the spouse of a UK person is non-domiciled. In such cases the UK government has historically taken the view that the usual IHT-immunity that exists between spouses does not apply. That view was questioned recently, under EU rules i believe, but that is obviously now all subject to Brexit.

So I would not assume that spousal transfers, whether through gifts whilst you are alive or bequests via probate, are immune from IHT. But that said if, as surely often happens, the non-dom spouse has custody of the assets and promptly leaves the UK after death, then I cannot conceive how HMRC is ever successful in collecting the IHT they claim is due. At least I cannot see a foreign court supporting that claim.

Obviously if there are UK beneficiaries remaining in the UK, then they would be legitimate targets for HMRC.

If it were me I would make gifts equal to the IHT NRB allowance every 7 years to my UK children. And then leave the rest to my non-dom spouse who one might reasonably expect to be able to avoid IHT practically, if not technically.

In terms of the points you raise, my wife has ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) and may well be a British citizen by that point in time and I wouldn't envisage her rushing to leave the UK. If that arose, it would likely be at least a couple of years down the road, bearing in mind it would take time to sell the property and tie up loose ends.

Depending on exactly how, and at what point in time, the value of the property comes into play, the estate may well be under IHT limits. The distribution of assets would take place at different points in time. I also wasn't clear how things would be affected if there was a trust holding the property in trust for the wife and the adult children (if that is how it works), as opposed to it simply passing directly to the wife on her own.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351879

Postby Dod101 » October 30th, 2020, 7:01 am

Apart from a 'foreign' wife I had exactly that situation and these days it is not that uncommon. The property (the family home) is left to a trust which is for the benefit of your children but which allows your wife to live in rent free for her lifetime or until she chooses otherwise. Standard clauses can be inserted to allow her to move house in the UK with the agreement of the trustees. When she dies the trustees (usually the beneficiaries) will sell the property and distribute the proceeds.

The rest of the property will be distributed upon death in the usual way according to the Will. I do not know about the IHT position of your 'foreign' wife though.

So I think the answer to your initial question is that yes you certainly can leave the property in the way you describe. Whether your wife is considered to have taken up domicile here or not, may be relevant though for possible IHT.

Dod

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351900

Postby richfool » October 30th, 2020, 9:26 am

Dod101 wrote:Apart from a 'foreign' wife I had exactly that situation and these days it is not that uncommon. The property (the family home) is left to a trust which is for the benefit of your children but which allows your wife to live in rent free for her lifetime or until she chooses otherwise. Standard clauses can be inserted to allow her to move house in the UK with the agreement of the trustees. When she dies the trustees (usually the beneficiaries) will sell the property and distribute the proceeds.

The rest of the property will be distributed upon death in the usual way according to the Will. I do not know about the IHT position of your 'foreign' wife though.

So I think the answer to your initial question is that yes you certainly can leave the property in the way you describe. Whether your wife is considered to have taken up domicile here or not, may be relevant though for possible IHT.

Dod

Yes, I was advised by a solicitor to proceed exactly as you outline. However, what I was wanting to do, was to vary that to the extent that, my liquid assets (investments & savings) are split and distributed upon my death (distributions to include my wife) and the property proceeds to be split at a later date, rather than waiting until my wife's death, as she is likely to return to her home country when she reaches retirement age, and that distribution to also include her. IF I was to follow the arrangements you outline above, then as my wife and adult children are of similar ages, my wife could outlast my adult children and they get nothing, or if she were to sell up and return to her home country, which is likely, she would get nothing as, in your example, (all) the proceeds are destined for the children.

As I said above I don't think the estate will be enough to trigger IHT. (Some assets are held in joint names so would automatically pass to my wife). I was just trying to determine at what point any potential/possible IHT liability would be calculated (as the assets would be distributed at different points in time, and what the implications of the property being held in trust for my wife and my adult children would be. Would it be excluded from any IHT calculations or would the calculation be postponed until the final sale of the property?

Also, I am not clear on how the title of the property would be held after my passing. For example, would it be held by the Executors as Trustees of my Estate, and if so, would that mean my wife would have to seek their approval/involvement with routine payment of bills like insurance, council tax, instructing estate agents when she wants to sell, etc?

I was hoping that a Legal/Estate expert would answer this.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351919

Postby Dod101 » October 30th, 2020, 9:59 am

Hi richfool. I am no expert in any of this so I cannot really help.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351927

Postby TheMotorcycleBoy » October 30th, 2020, 10:27 am

Hi Rich

My Dad (Duckmill) has barrister qualification. He's also married twice and I'm one of 5 of his and 2nd wife's shared kids (as kids we are between 50 and 60 yr old I believe).

He's a little slow on TLF but if you like I phone him today and ask him if he can help etc.?

Let me know. But it maybe easier (for him) to advise over the phone or if you're near London meet at The Athenaeum. He does really struggle on forums!

Matt

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351934

Postby Dod101 » October 30th, 2020, 11:03 am

I could add that in my case it was all in vane as my second wife (much younger than I) dies of cancer at age 60.

The other point, which may not affect richfool, is that these arrangements can last a lot longer than envisaged. My first wife had a school friend whose mother died when the friend was quite young and the father remarried, to a rather younger woman. He put in place the sort of arrangements we are discussing. The family home was to go into a trust for the ultimate benefit of his children (the school friend and her two siblings) and in the meantime the wife and family could live in it rent free for her lifetime or so long as she wished. This wife died last December aged 94, which is at least 50 years later. In the meantime, one of the siblings died and the other two are each in their mid to late 70s. Not exactly what the long deceased father had in mind but at least his wishes were carried out and I guess his grandchildren will be the main beneficiaries, but in effect, his own children were denied the benefit of his legacy. As it happens they all seemed to remain on very good terms but the two now elderly daughters are left to tidy up the whole thing.

Dod

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#351971

Postby richfool » October 30th, 2020, 1:19 pm

TheMotorcycleBoy wrote:Hi Rich

My Dad (Duckmill) has barrister qualification. He's also married twice and I'm one of 5 of his and 2nd wife's shared kids (as kids we are between 50 and 60 yr old I believe).

He's a little slow on TLF but if you like I phone him today and ask him if he can help etc.?

Let me know. But it maybe easier (for him) to advise over the phone or if you're near London meet at The Athenaeum. He does really struggle on forums!

Matt

Thank you for the offer, Matt, but don't trouble your Dad. I'll see what I can pick up from here first. Ultimately, I may have to raise any outstanding questions with the solicitor through whom I did my Will. When I have discussed these things in the past, there is never quite enough time to get to the bottom of the various questions arising.

Dod, Yes, indeed. The situations/scenarios you outlined in your preceding post were exactly the reasons why I wanted to proceed as I outlined in my OP.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#352037

Postby genou » October 30th, 2020, 10:05 pm

richfool wrote:
Dod101 wrote:Apart from a 'foreign' wife I had exactly that situation and these days it is not that uncommon. The property (the family home) is left to a trust which is for the benefit of your children but which allows your wife to live in rent free for her lifetime or until she chooses otherwise. Standard clauses can be inserted to allow her to move house in the UK with the agreement of the trustees. When she dies the trustees (usually the beneficiaries) will sell the property and distribute the proceeds.

The rest of the property will be distributed upon death in the usual way according to the Will. I do not know about the IHT position of your 'foreign' wife though.

So I think the answer to your initial question is that yes you certainly can leave the property in the way you describe. Whether your wife is considered to have taken up domicile here or not, may be relevant though for possible IHT.

Dod

Yes, I was advised by a solicitor to proceed exactly as you outline. However, what I was wanting to do, was to vary that to the extent that, my liquid assets (investments & savings) are split and distributed upon my death (distributions to include my wife) and the property proceeds to be split at a later date, rather than waiting until my wife's death, as she is likely to return to her home country when she reaches retirement age, and that distribution to also include her. IF I was to follow the arrangements you outline above, then as my wife and adult children are of similar ages, my wife could outlast my adult children and they get nothing, or if she were to sell up and return to her home country, which is likely, she would get nothing as, in your example, (all) the proceeds are destined for the children.

As I said above I don't think the estate will be enough to trigger IHT. (Some assets are held in joint names so would automatically pass to my wife). I was just trying to determine at what point any potential/possible IHT liability would be calculated (as the assets would be distributed at different points in time, and what the implications of the property being held in trust for my wife and my adult children would be. Would it be excluded from any IHT calculations or would the calculation be postponed until the final sale of the property?

Also, I am not clear on how the title of the property would be held after my passing. For example, would it be held by the Executors as Trustees of my Estate, and if so, would that mean my wife would have to seek their approval/involvement with routine payment of bills like insurance, council tax, instructing estate agents when she wants to sell, etc?

I was hoping that a Legal/Estate expert would answer this.


I'm not a legal/estate expert. It's up to you to set what the limits are of your wife remaining in the property after you die. That entitlement might be until she dies, until she leaves the UK, for a set number of years or as Dod says, until she chooses not to - and you really want that option there. What happens to the proceeds at the point of sale when she leaves the property is again up to you.

The house would be in the legal possession of the trustees you appoint in your will. Normally the executors, but not unreasonably your adult children ( if different ). Don't appoint a professional as executor/ trustee - it make it impossible to fire them if they are no good.

The terms of occupancy ( maintenance etc ) are up to you - your widow would normally pay running costs, but the beneficiaries of the trust have an obvious strong interest in the house being properly insured, so you have to allow for this in your thinking. Equally, who will be responsible for, and have the funding to meet that responsibility, if a capital cost arises ( e.g. a need for a new roof ) ?.

What you are considering is an "Immediate post-death interest " in IHT terms. http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/a ... trusts.pdf For a domiciled spouse that would mean your widow is treated as inheriting the house, so no IHT. Should she die in occupancy the house would be part of her estate. No idea if she is not domiciled.

If the house is sold while she is alive, there may be CGT on any gain from your date of death. I'm not sure, and it's too late to think about it.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#352044

Postby Dod101 » October 30th, 2020, 10:21 pm

'What you are considering is an "Immediate post-death interest " in IHT terms. http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/a ... trusts.pdf For a domiciled spouse that would mean your widow is treated as inheriting the house, so no IHT. Should she die in occupancy the house would be part of her estate. No idea if she is not domiciled.'

That part does surprise me if true. 'Should she die in occupancy the house would be part of her estate.' And the effect of that? Presumably it could give rise to IHT. How could that be equitable? Supposing her estate cannot pay it? If the house were sold it would not benefit her estate as she did not own it. Are you sure that is correct? The whole point about trusts is to avoid that sort of thing.

This is now just of general interest to me but that does not sound right.

Dod

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#352113

Postby scrumpyjack » October 31st, 2020, 9:16 am

Dod101 wrote:'What you are considering is an "Immediate post-death interest " in IHT terms. http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/a ... trusts.pdf For a domiciled spouse that would mean your widow is treated as inheriting the house, so no IHT. Should she die in occupancy the house would be part of her estate. No idea if she is not domiciled.'

That part does surprise me if true. 'Should she die in occupancy the house would be part of her estate.' And the effect of that? Presumably it could give rise to IHT. How could that be equitable? Supposing her estate cannot pay it? If the house were sold it would not benefit her estate as she did not own it. Are you sure that is correct? The whole point about trusts is to avoid that sort of thing.

This is now just of general interest to me but that does not sound right.

Dod


It certainly is correct and it has long been the case that the death of someone having a life interest in assets results in those assets being chargeable to IHT as if part of her estate.

Trusts generally are very unattractive now as successive governments (conservative as well as labour) have sought to make them so. But the above point has been the case for many many decades at least!

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#352117

Postby Dod101 » October 31st, 2020, 9:33 am

Thanks scrumpyjack. We live and learn. So the executors could be faced with an IHT bill and insufficient assets to pay it. What happens then?

It is unlikely ever to affect me or a spouse but it is an interesting situation.

Dod

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#352121

Postby richfool » October 31st, 2020, 9:51 am

My thread and questions are getting dragged off onto other peripheral discussions. Please could you discuss those elsewhere.

My questions related to whether a trust can easily accommodate the situation as outlined in my OP and where there is:

1. a partial distribution of the estate (liquid assets) upon death which would include the wife/widow and 2 adult children.
2. the property would be held in trust for the benefit of the wife/widow AND the 2 adult children. (So not just the children). I am not sure whether that affects the taxation situation.
3. a disposal of the property can take place, and the proceeds be distributed between the wife/widow and the adult children, at an earlier point in time than the death of the wife/widow, i.e within a year or two of my death should she choose to return to her country of birth to live.

Notes:
I don't think the value of the estate would be high enough to trigger IHT unless the current IHT thresholds were reduced or property prices rose significantly. Some liquid assets are in joint names and thus would pass automatically to my wife. Wife has settled status in the UK.

I feel obliged to appoint a firm of solicitors but am also concerned about the costs thus incurred in managing a trust situation. My wife would not be able to deal with such things. One offspring lives on the other side of the world, and the one in the UK has a young family and shows little interest or desire to comprehend the situation.

Thanks for the input and thoughts so far.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#352129

Postby Dod101 » October 31st, 2020, 10:22 am

I would suggest that richfool sees a solicitor qualified and experienced in such matters. I am a believer in being as well equipped as I can be before such a meeting but forums like this can only take anyone so far. Not many of the expertise I guess to help and of course they cannot know all the family details. Such advice costs money but that is too bad. Very little in life is free.

Dod

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#352329

Postby chas49 » October 31st, 2020, 10:15 pm

Moderator Message:
The OP has made a reasonable request - please try and observe this

richfool wrote:My thread and questions are getting dragged off onto other peripheral discussions. Please could you discuss those elsewhere.


Thanks (chas49)

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#353098

Postby genou » November 3rd, 2020, 5:28 pm

richfool wrote:My thread and questions are getting dragged off onto other peripheral discussions. Please could you discuss those elsewhere.

My questions related to whether a trust can easily accommodate the situation as outlined in my OP and where there is:

1. a partial distribution of the estate (liquid assets) upon death which would include the wife/widow and 2 adult children.


None of these assets would ever be in trust, so they are simply whatever you put in your will.

richfool wrote:2. the property would be held in trust for the benefit of the wife/widow AND the 2 adult children. (So not just the children). I am not sure whether that affects the taxation situation.

3. a disposal of the property can take place, and the proceeds be distributed between the wife/widow and the adult children, at an earlier point in time than the death of the wife/widow, i.e within a year or two of my death should she choose to return to her country of birth to live.


Normally the interests of the wife and the children would be different - immediate beneficiary versus remaindermen. I think that remains true even if there is the possibility of terminating the immediate interest prior to your wife's death, and your wife being also a remainderman. But if IHT is not an issue, that's probably academic for that point. If the house is sold out of the trust ( which it would have to be ) , then I'd hope that the trust was structured such that the trustees could benefit from your wife's PPR exemption. That should be possible.

richfool wrote:Notes:
I don't think the value of the estate would be high enough to trigger IHT unless the current IHT thresholds were reduced or property prices rose significantly. Some liquid assets are in joint names and thus would pass automatically to my wife. Wife has settled status in the UK.

I feel obliged to appoint a firm of solicitors but am also concerned about the costs thus incurred in managing a trust situation. My wife would not be able to deal with such things. One offspring lives on the other side of the world, and the one in the UK has a young family and shows little interest or desire to comprehend the situation.

Thanks for the input and thoughts so far.


Then that's life. The trust might need sufficient funds to pay for professional trustees, who will not be cheap. I repeat my point about running costs and capital costs - who will pay what , and crucially who will have the money to do so. If that is sorted out, the need for trustees to actually do anything should be minimal up to the point where they organise a sale.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#353108

Postby scrumpyjack » November 3rd, 2020, 5:45 pm

I think it worth avoiding a lawyer being involved on a long term basis is it can be avoided.

Perhaps you could make the trustees your wife and the two children, so on your death the house is registered in their names and can't be sold without all agreeing to it, and your wife continues to live in it. The children would have no administration to do.

IANAL but I seem to recall family situations like this where the wife carried on living in the house for her life and the house then went to the children. There were no tax returns or accounts of any sort as the 'trust' had no income or expenses.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#353130

Postby richfool » November 3rd, 2020, 7:10 pm

genou wrote:Then that's life. The trust might need sufficient funds to pay for professional trustees, who will not be cheap. I repeat my point about running costs and capital costs - who will pay what , and crucially who will have the money to do so. If that is sorted out, the need for trustees to actually do anything should be minimal up to the point where they organise a sale.

scrumpyjack wrote:I think it worth avoiding a lawyer being involved on a long term basis is it can be avoided.

Perhaps you could make the trustees your wife and the two children, so on your death the house is registered in their names and can't be sold without all agreeing to it, and your wife continues to live in it. The children would have no administration to do.

IANAL but I seem to recall family situations like this where the wife carried on living in the house for her life and the house then went to the children. There were no tax returns or accounts of any sort as the 'trust' had no income or expenses.

Thank you both very much for your input and comments.

Thoughts that arise:-

I am wondering does the Will document itself constitute the trust (document)? If so, would it be viable/practical/preferable to use the solicitors as Executors - (but not trustees), i.e. for them to deal with probate and any initial legal formalities AND to transfer the property into either: (1) the names of my wife and two children as the Trustees and (ultimate) beneficiaries of the trust; or (2), (as I think you are suggesting), to transfer the property directly into the names of my wife and two children (as tenants-in-common) (not as trustees?)? In the latter scenario, could I rely on the wording in the Will to convey/maintain the proviso that my wife can continue to live in the property for as long as she wishes, (i.e. to protect her from being pressurised into selling by my children)?

Whilst I acknowledge that fees would be incurred for dealing with probate etc, could taking either of those courses of action, then avoid the solicitors being involved and incurring fees on an ongoing basis?

Understood that my wife and children could organise the sale themselves at the appropriate point in time (and instruct a solicitor to act in connection with the sale). In my experience, solicitors will normally offer competitive quotes to act in connection with a house sale or purchase, thus I see the bigger risk cost-wise would be from solicitors carrying out some ongoing monitoring or maintenance of a trust role, which the above suggestions should avoid. Also presumably I should be able to better negotiate a price for them to handle the initial executor work.

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Re: How to pass assets to current wife and children from previous marriage

#353142

Postby scrumpyjack » November 3rd, 2020, 7:36 pm

richfool wrote:
genou wrote:Then that's life. The trust might need sufficient funds to pay for professional trustees, who will not be cheap. I repeat my point about running costs and capital costs - who will pay what , and crucially who will have the money to do so. If that is sorted out, the need for trustees to actually do anything should be minimal up to the point where they organise a sale.

scrumpyjack wrote:I think it worth avoiding a lawyer being involved on a long term basis is it can be avoided.

Perhaps you could make the trustees your wife and the two children, so on your death the house is registered in their names and can't be sold without all agreeing to it, and your wife continues to live in it. The children would have no administration to do.

IANAL but I seem to recall family situations like this where the wife carried on living in the house for her life and the house then went to the children. There were no tax returns or accounts of any sort as the 'trust' had no income or expenses.

Thank you both very much for your input and comments.

Thoughts that arise:-

I am wondering does the Will document itself constitute the trust (document)? If so, would it be viable/practical/preferable to use the solicitors as Executors - (but not trustees), i.e. for them to deal with probate and any initial legal formalities AND to transfer the property into either: (1) the names of my wife and two children as the Trustees and (ultimate) beneficiaries of the trust; or (2), (as I think you are suggesting), to transfer the property directly into the names of my wife and two children (as tenants-in-common) (not as trustees?)? In the latter scenario, could I rely on the wording in the Will to convey/maintain the proviso that my wife can continue to live in the property for as long as she wishes, (i.e. to protect her from being pressurised into selling by my children)?

Whilst I acknowledge that fees would be incurred for dealing with probate etc, could taking either of those courses of action, then avoid the solicitors being involved and incurring fees on an ongoing basis?

Understood that my wife and children could organise the sale themselves at the appropriate point in time (and instruct a solicitor to act in connection with the sale). In my experience, solicitors will normally offer competitive quotes to act in connection with a house sale or purchase, thus I see the bigger risk cost-wise would be from solicitors carrying out some ongoing monitoring or maintenance of a trust role, which the above suggestions should avoid. Also presumably I should be able to better negotiate a price for them to handle the initial executor work.


Certainly the Will establishes the Trust and no further Trust Deed is needed. The Will can set out these arrangements and name your wife and the two children as the trustees of the property and set out their rights. There should not be any need for solicitors to be involved further in this.


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