Hi
I am a little confused and hope that someone could point me in the right direction!
In a client’s Will, a property was left to his two grandchildren as tenants in common in equal shares but contingent on the grandchildren reaching age 21. The Will does not specifically state that this legacy was held in Trust for the grandchildren, although due to the residuary estate being held in trust, the Will does provide details of who Trustees should be and also provides various trustees powers etc. although I would presume (rightly or wrongly) that this would be relevant to the Trust of residue, rather than to the whole Will.
The grandchildren were under 18 at the time that the client died and just recently, one of the grandchildren has attained age 21 and the other grandchild will be 21 in the next twelve months.
Am I correct that as this legacy was made to the grandchildren who were minors at the time of the client’s death, their entitlement under the Will will have automatically been ‘in trust’ (bare trust) with the Executors as Trustees. Then, as there is a contingency, the capital shares will vest absolutely at 21.I assume that the grandchildren will have been entitled to any income from date of death. As the specific legacy is a real property (it is a residential house), would there be an issue in the 1st grandchild’s share vesting to them absolutely at 21? I am presuming not because the 2nd grandchild is over 18?
Any help would be appreciated so that I can understand the legal side and then apply the tax to the situation!
Thanking you in advance
Jo Hamilton