Thanks for all the feedback.
The assets in question are segments of investment bonds, and the advice from the accountant and IFA on the tax consequences is that we are stuck with bare trusts.
I think that the answer to the accountant’s query is that the Manual is there to help HMRC decide how to apply the CGT and IT rules to a particular set of circumstances, not to give useful real-world examples to practitioners.
We can look at a settled advance when the time comes. That is a more constructive approach than the usual advice to the trustees to invite the beneficiary not to take the money an his 18th birthday.
Michael Cutler
Colemans Solicitors LLP