Trusts have long been used for tax planning, but while in the past they may have been reserved for the wealthy; Trusts are now more commonplace for a much wider range of clients. Many practitioners predicted the death of the Trust after the new Finance Act 2006 come into effect, and while the number of Trusts has fallen since then, there were still 151,000 Trusts that completed Self Assessment forms reported in the most recent Trusts statistics October 2020 Bulletin suggesting that Trusts are not going to disappear any time soon.
Trusts are most often used for asset protection. One example is the Discretionary Will Trust, whose purpose is to ensure children ultimately benefit from an inheritance where there is a new partner or to prevent an immature beneficiary from squandering their new inheritance.
Even as Trusts have been opened to a broader audience, the compliance obligations for them has continued to grow. There may be a hangover in attitude that rather than being tax planning instruments they remain tax evasion tools for the privileged or we live in increasingly regulated times, but whichever the cause their administration is not becoming easier.
Offering clients the Trust instrument is an important planning tool as part of a complete private client service, but knowing how to set one up correctly, and whether you have the right knowledge within your organisation or need third-party expertise is a challenge. How you ensure you meet all the compliance regulations, (from FATCA to The Trust Registration Service), can feel daunting.
Yet help is always on hand. Gill Steel of LawSkills, has over 30 years of specialist private client expertise and she is offering a webinar to guide you through each step of setting up a new Trust in line with current regulations.
If you’re new to Trust work and interested in whether to offer this service or need a refresher to check you are following correct best practice guidelines, then this webinar is ideal.
Of course your obligations don’t stop once the Trust is set up and having a comprehensive Trust administration system to assist with the ongoing demands of trust regulations makes sound sense.
That’s why we are delighted to be able to sponsor the LawSkills webinar. Our leading-edge platform, WealthWorks+ is the perfect partner for any Trust management obligations. And the platform doesn’t stop at Trusts. Family Companies, Partnerships and Foundations are also managed by the platform.
To find out more or to book your place on the webinar click here Webinar: How To Set Up A Trust 3 Mar 2021 – LawSkills Online
