It is now nearly ten years since the then Labour government (which never seemed entirely comfortable that trusts were anything other than instruments of the Devil) made significant changes to the IHT regime applying to trusts. The result was that many more trusts became liable under the “relevant property” regime to ten-year and “exit” charges: and such misbegotten creatures as transitional serial interests, IPDIs (“immediate post-death interests”); bereaved minors’ trusts; and 18-25 trusts first crawled out into the light of day.
If, like many trustees and some professional advisers we have come across over the intervening decade, you hesitate to aver that you are completely confident with your management of this unholy menagerie, you may be interested in our new “Trust Review” service. For a modest fixed fee we will review and report in writing on the tax treatment of any trust for which you are responsible (including any prospective will trusts which have yet to come into existence), giving you comfort as to the correct IHT, CGT and Income Tax treatment and suggesting what steps might be available to manage the liabilities. This may be especially apposite in the case of trusts approaching (or, in some cases, having passed) 10-year charge points, including former “accumulation and maintenance” trusts which entered into the “relevant property” regime on the expiry of the transitional period on 6 April 2008.
For more details of the cost and availability of this service please contact Terry Jordan or Geraint Jones. Trust us: it may be the best call you have made for a while.