Case Study
Estate Planning
Roger and Tracy contacted us because they had accrued considerable capital during their lifetime which they believed they would not spend. They wanted to make sure that it would be passed on to their adult children as effectively as possible. They also had a number of properties that they intended to pass on.
> Estate Planning Case Study: Roger and Tracy
In our initial free meeting we discussed Roger and Tracy’s estate planning goals, their aims and objectives. They had three major concerns. The first was that their daughter’s marriage may end in divorce and that if this happened their son in law could potentially take part of their hard earned capital. Their second major concern was that their son’s business may fail in the future and that their part of their capital could potentially be taken by creditors. The third issue was that a great proportion of their capital could be eaten up by care home fees.
> LEGAL ADVICE
Any advice that involves investments, tax and trust planning can become very complicated. Sometime standard ‘off the shelf’ wills and trusts are sufficient, but it is important to know when expert help is required.
We are happy to work with your usual family solicitors, or we can introduce you to professionals if their expertise is required.
We worked with a legal firm to put a beneficiary protection trust in place for the clients. With a beneficiary protection trust all of the client’s assets become the property of the trust on death. This type of trust allows Roger and Tracy to maintain full control of their assets during their lifetimes and importantly once the assets pass into the trust their daughter’s spouse would not be able to make a claim against those assets in the case of a divorce. In addition, her son’s business creditors would not be able to make a claim on the assets.
Another benefit of the beneficiary protection trust is that, with the correct tenancy in place, Roger and Tracy could potentially put half of their house in the trust on first death mitigating care home fees on that half of the house. Finally, future generations such as Roger and Tracy’s grandchildren may be able to use the trusts as a vehicle to mitigate inheritance tax.