27 Jun 22

Estate Planning

Will Trusts and Estate Planning...Keeping it in the bloodline

Helen Baldwin, part of our Legal Services team is a Legal Intermediary. She helps True Bearing clients with all their Estate Planning requirements. In her role, she meets many different people from all walks of life, who all want to make sure that their wealth is preserved and their wishes are carried out after their death. Here is just one story of many that she sees on a daily basis:

Mary came to see me because she wanted to get her affairs in order; writes Helen. It was something she knew she needed to do, but hadn’t got around to it. After a health scare she felt like it was the right time to get it all sorted out.

Mary didn’t have a will in place, so this was her first priority. She had married her second husband Al, following her first husband’s death in 2005, and they lived in a house solely in her name.  She had one son from her first marriage, Stephen, who was in his twenties. Mary wanted to make sure that Stephen would be able to inherit the house.  However, she also wanted to ensure that Al could continue to live there if she passed away first. Al didn't want to make a will or do any estate planning as he felt he didn't have enough assets to justify it.

We discussed the possibility of a Will Trust. A Will Trust would enable Stephen to inherit the house, but would also ensure that Al would be taken care of should something happen to Mary.

How will the Will Trust work?

The Will Trust allows Mary to specify that upon her death, Al would be given the 'Right To Occupy' the property until he passed away, upon which time the property would pass to Stephen. This would give Mary the best of both worlds, being able to provide for both the men in her life and ensuring that her wishes would be carried out after her death.

To make sure that no parties could take advantage of the arrangement, there were some stipulations added to the ‘Right To Occupy’. These were that if Al got married to somebody else after she passed away or cohabited with somebody else, the house then had to be sold and all the proceeds would go to her son at that point. Equally if he wanted to downsize and purchase a cheaper property, the excess funds would at that point go to Stephen. This would then make sure that Stephen was getting all of the equity from the house.

Mary was happy with this arrangement and now has peace of mind that her legacy planning is taken care of and that her son will be able to inherit the house when she passes away through the use of a Will Trust.

It is important to remember that a Will Trust is just one of the many options available for estate planning. If you are unsure of what option would be best for you, please do not hesitate to contact our Legal Services team who will be happy to help.

The FCA does not regulate Wills, Trusts or Legacy Planning