Hello
My father-in-law passed 1 week ago. His will instructs for the creation of a discretionary trust, with 2 funds- a NRB fund and a Residue fund. We intend to see a solicitor regarding this, but I’d like not to be totally ignorant about the process and it will help me frame appropriate questions on the day.
My questions are:
Upon death the will becomes a ‘live trust’, I believe. If so, does the will itself become the Trust Deed/Settlement? If not then I assume a de-novo trust will have to be crafted based on the will? Or some sort of ‘book end’ document, including the will?
The 3 trustees ( also the executors) nominated in the will have signed up to nothing. It is my belief that this is an essential feature of any trust. Will a separate document be needed to be created to bring the trustees on board?
One trustee lacks mental capacity, and the other has a terminal illness. Do they need to renounce their role?
I know that the executors role is to gain letter of probate and move money into a trust bank account for distribution by the trustees. In order to set up a trust bank account, they need a trust document. Can that consist of the will, death certificate +/- signed trustee document as in 2 above?
Can anyone advise on the correct way of naming the Trust? Would say Trust of Name dd/mm/yyy as date of death be sufficient?
As 5 but relating to naming the bank accounts.
I will be grateful for any helpful response and we will not be doing this in a DIY fashion.
You are doing the right thing Martyn by seeking advice. There can be no criticism of a lay person feeling somewhat at sea with the unfamiliar complexities here. An interactive session with a specialist will allow you to get all the answers you need on how to deal with the administration first of the estate and then of the two trusts and the scope for all beneficiaries to agree to change some things.
It would take a long essay to answer your questions properly and probably only after you had submitted further responses for even more answers. This is simply not what this Forum does. It is not a criticism that your questions indicate the need for your adviser to begin at step one, if not earlier; but if you were coming to me I would be confident that after the first meeting all your concerns and more would be clarified to your satisfaction and an action plan devised.
The main issue therefore is your choice of adviser; competence, experience and, ideally, personal chemistry are what you need. A recommendation would be good but you can reasonably expect to try before you buy. Do not engage someone whom you feel you cannot work with easily. This is a personal service operation not Amazon or even Marks & Spencer. Most private client lawyers get that and function accordingly. You might not have chosen me because my former clients were told up front not to count on unbroken sweetness and light. What they saw was what they got and the customer was king mainly when our views coincided