Trust Wills from £378

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Increased asset protection for your loved ones

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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 within the Will to administer the Trust on your behalf. For more information see Making a Will, Trusts and Trustees.

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.

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 can help if you have significant assets or investments as well as property, and wish to protect their value 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.

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 £378.
Mirror Trust Wills (2 Wills for a couple) costs from £504.

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.

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.

Start your Will online

Get started with our online Wills service and you'll get a follow up call to answer any queries and finalise your Will.

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Additional Will writing services

Make Will just for you, whether or not you’re in a relationship

Make a Will with someone else who has similar wishes to yours

Appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf

Check which Will is right for you

Different types of Will offer different levels of protection and flexibility. Our interactive tool helps you find the option that best suits your needs.