Trust will writers - fixed fee cost

What is a trust will?

A trust is a legal structure which can be included as part of your will and can offer increased asset protection for your loved ones. These types of wills are called trust wills. We would always recommend that you consider the benefits of setting up a trust as part of your will. They are most commonly seen in the following circumstances:

you wish to protect your estate against possible care fees in the future
you have a spouse or partner but children from a previous relationship
you wish to leave some of your estate to a vulnerable or disabled person

Download our guide which illustrates what would happen if you died with or without a Trust Will

Trust will calculator

Find out how much you could protect with our trust will calculator.

The calculator below tells you how much you could protect.

Approximately what is the value of your house? * £

For you and your partner, approximately what is the combined value of your savings and investments? £

How many children or beneficiaries do you have? *

A trust will could protect up to *

* These calculations assume joint ownership of the house and savings.

Protect up to for each of your children or beneficiaries

When you die, your property will usually go to your partner if you have mirror wills or no will. If your partner then needs to go into a care home, the entire value of the property can be used to pay for their care home fees (around £40,000 a year). These fees are taken until there’s £23,250** left. This could have a very big impact on the inheritance you want to pass to your children or other beneficiaries. If you put in place a Trust Will, half your home and savings could be protected in a trust when one of you dies, meaning it is excluded from care home fee calculations. So, there might be more to pass on to your loved ones.

** Reference care fees - the £23,250 figure is correct in England as at March 2020 (figures may vary in other parts of the UK)

Protect your home from passing to someone other than those you intended

Including a trust can give you control over what happens to your property in the long-term. You can name who you want to inherit the property, whilst allowing someone to live there after your death (but they will not own it). Then, when they die, it will go to the person or people you’ve named. For example, you could include a trust in your will that says you want your children to ultimately get the property, while allowing your partner to live there for as long as they need. When your partner dies, your children would get the property. This prevents your share of the property passing to anyone other than the people you want to benefit, for example a new husband/wife if your partner marries after your death.

Ensure your savings and investments provide for your partner during their lifetime, but ultimately pass to your children or other beneficiaries

If you own any savings, shares or investments in your sole name, you can put them into a trust to guarantee who benefits from them. You can name who you want to eventually get the savings, shares and investments (such as any children) whilst allowing someone else, such as your partner, to get any interest they produce. When that person dies (or on a date that you’ve chosen) the savings, shares and investments will go to the person or people you’ve chosen.

How do trust wills work?

Usually, when making a will, you name people that you would like to receive your estate when you die, known as your beneficiaries. However, there may be circumstances where you would prefer that your estate doesn’t go directly to the beneficiaries when you die, but rather, that it is held on behalf of those beneficiaries in a particular way.

The people holding the assets on behalf of the beneficiaries are known as your trustees. Trustees are nominated in the will to administer the trust on your behalf. For more information see making a will, trusts and trustees.

How does probate work when there's a trust?

While the presence of a will trust won't necessarily impact the probate process, the assets contained within that trust may do. The terms and contents of the will trust all determine how probate works.

Whether probate is required depends on the assets in the estate, regardless of whether they form part of the will trust. Find out more about when probate is needed.

Types of trust wills

We offer the following types of trust wills to assist in different circumstances:

Property trust will
Life interest trust will
Discretionary trust will

Property trust wills

A property trust will, sometimes referred to as a protective property trust, can provide greater peace of mind if you own a property and wish to best protect its value for future generations.

A property trust will lets you create a trust in your will that looks after your property (or your share of it). You would appoint trustees to manage the trust but the terms of the trust allow you to give someone (normally a spouse or partner) the right to benefit from the trust during their lifetime.

This means they could live in the property that's contained in the trust, or earn a rental income from it. If the trust contains cash because the property in the trust has been sold, then they have right to receive the income generated from the trust during their lifetime.

Benefits of a property trust will

Guarantees who benefits from your share of the property if your surviving partner:
- Remarries after you die (marriage automatically invalidates any existing wills)
- Writes a new will after your death, changing their original wishes
Can help reduce the potential impact of residential care fees on the property value for the benefit of future generations.

Who can benefit from a property trust will?

Anyone who owns property with someone else, whether married, unmarried or in a civil partnership and:
- Wants to protect the property value for specific loved ones in the future
- Wants to protect the property value from the potential future risk of residential care fees should this be required for the surviving partner.

Flexible life interest trust wills

A flexible life interest trust will is similar to a property trust will, but enables you to put the whole or part of your estate in the will trust, rather than just your property.

A flexible life interest trust will can help if you have significant assets or investments as well as property, and wish to protect their value for future generations.

With a life interest trust will, you can give someone a life interest in your property or other assets without those assets actually leaving your estate. For example, if you include a life interest trust in your will and your home is placed into this trust, then the person with a life interest could continue to live in the property for the rest of their life, but on their death it would then be distributed in line with the terms of your will.

A life interest trust can be an effective way of ensuring that a loved one is provided for during their lifetime, while also protecting the value of your assets for future generations.

Benefits of a flexible life interest trust will

Guarantees who benefits from cash assets and investments as well as property if your surviving partner:
- Remarries after your death (marriage automatically invalidates any existing Wills)
- Writes a new will after your death, changing their original wishes
Allows a nominated person to benefit from the income generated from your investments if you die, whilst protecting the capital value for future generations.

Who can benefit from a flexible life interest trust will?

Anyone who holds cash assets and investments in their sole name and:
- Wishes to take care of a nominated person such as a surviving spouse, but help protect the capital value of investments for specific loved ones in the future
- Wants to protect the value of the investments for future generations.

Discretionary trust wills

A discretionary trust will allows you to appoint trustees to manage inheritance on behalf of vulnerable loved ones who require assistance.

You can use a discretionary trust will to place your estate, or part of it, into a trust created in your will, to be managed by your chosen trustees. You then name the potential beneficiaries of the trust and give your trustees discretion over which of the potential beneficiaries actually receives anything from the trust, when and how.

Benefits of a discretionary trust will

Guarantees that vulnerable people are given assistance in the management of their inheritance
Reduces the risk of state benefit entitlements being compromised by the receipt of inheritance
Potentially helps unmarried couples with Inheritance Tax planning.

Who can benefit from a discretionary trust will?

Anyone who wishes to leave inheritance to:
- Loved ones who lack the mental or physical capacity to look after their own affairs
- Loved ones who have a disability and run the risk of having their state benefit entitlements compromised by the receipt of inheritance
- Beneficiaries who are in a vulnerable position. e.g. someone with learning disabilities, undergoing a divorce, struggling financially

Cost of setting up a trust will in England and Wales

A single trust will costs from £399
Mirror trust wills (2 wills for a couple) cost from £795

Our fixed fee cost includes one of the three types of trusts listed above. Once we have provided you with a written quote for the agreed work to be done, that price will not change.

What does a will trustee do?

The trustee will be responsible for managing the trust assets in line with the terms of the Will and in the best interests of the trust's beneficiaries. It is common (but not strictly necessary) for the same person to be appointed as both trustee and executor in the will.

Trustees have a financial responsibility to act in accordance with the terms of the trust and to act fairly towards the beneficiaries, balancing each of their interests. There is also a duty of care under the Trustee Act 2000 to "exercise such care and skill as is reasonable in the circumstances."

The main duties of a will trustee include:

Acting impartially and in the best interests of all of the beneficiaries of the trust.
Acting with reasonable care and skill. If a trustee is a professional, such as a solicitor or accountant, then a higher standard of care will be expected of them than that of a lay trustee.
Finding out what assets are owned by the trust and making sure they are kept safe. If money is owed to the trust, the trustees may need to recover it.
Formally reviewing investments at least once a year, and taking financial advice if necessary.
Keeping records to show that the trust has been managed properly. The beneficiaries of the trust normally have the right to see these records.
Storing all trust documents, including accounts, title deeds, share certificates and investments documents and making these available to the beneficiaries if needed.

We recommend naming at least 2 trustees. This means that if a trustee becomes unable or unwilling to act on your behalf, your other trustee can step in. Also, if the trust contains property there's usually a legal requirement for at least two trustees to deal with the legal ownership of the property.

Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority

Co-op Legal Services is a trading name for Co-operative Legal Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, giving you peace of mind that your Will is being written and stored correctly by a legally regulated organisation and by a brand name you know and can trust.