TRS Digital Handshake - letter of authority?

Trusts Discussion
#1

I have asked a trustee client to begin the TRS digital handshake process to authorise me to access the trust register as an agent. The client is also a trustee for a trust that is looked after by another firm (Firm X). The client tells me that Firm X has advised that if trustees don’t want to get tangled up in the digital process, a letter of authority from the trustees will be sufficient to allow Firm X to complete the process on the trustees’ behalf. I was not aware that this was possible - is it accepted practice?

Tessa Manisty
Phillips Lewis Smith

#2

I am not aware of this being a possibility but would be interested to know if it is. I think we have nearly got all ours ‘claimed’ by helping the trustees get their account set up and then applying for authorisation.

Lucy Orrow CTA TEP
Lambert Chapman LLP

#3

Hi

Ditto - I am not aware that this is an accepted route. The only non-digital approach that I am aware of applies when the trustee is digitally excluded - all the details we have about this process is in the ATT ‘how to’ guide (https://www.att.org.uk/how-update-trust-register#Digitally%20excluded%20trustees).

Is Firm X basically getting a letter of authority to set up a Government Gateway for the trustee then - and then logging in themselves to complete the digital handshake? That is the only way I could see it could be done. If so, for any professional firm signed up to PCRT I would expect that could give issues as advisers are not supposed to know the Government Gateway details for their clients. I’d have to check with our prof standards team if a letter of authority overrode that general requirement (definitely not for me to pronounce on prof standards matters) but it makes me nervous.

Thanks
Helen Thornley
Association of Taxation Technicians

#4

Thank you both for your input. It can be hard to know what other firms doing and I wondered if we had been inconveniencing our clients (and ourselves!) by going the traditional route - so it’s reassuring to know this is not the case.

Tessa Manisty
Phillips Lewis Smith