The solicitor who made the trust on Agricultural land which has been farmed by the son for many years under a farm tenancy agreement who’s father has left this land in his will to the son, but put a trust on this land to the mother for her lifetime has informed that they cannot easily trace the document of trust? Done about 15 yrs ago.
How can we find out if the trust is irrevocable? And if so or not, can any trust be revoked if the benificary agrees and is of sound mind?
Is IHT and/or CGT payable if a trust is revoked?.
Many thanks.
Kay
You need to speak to a solicitor with probate and trust expertise, armed with all the relevant documents you have. They should be able to make sense of it and suggest where documents might be found. This is a complex area.
For example, if the trust was established under a will then it will be contained in the will itself - easily available from the probate registry. If established before he died, then it’s unlikely that the will would be relevant because the father would not have owned the land when he died. Copies of a lifetime trust deed might be obtained from HMRC if the original drafters have destroyed all electronic and hard copies.
You may be able to avoid CGT and IHT due to the nature of the land, but somebody would need to look at this with knowledge of the full facts; there is no generic answer and the details are important, particularly as you would be relying on relief for agricultural property relief.