Lifetime trusts and gifts
It is sometimes the case that people may, quite properly, want to make lifetime provision for one or more other persons. They may do this as an alternative to making a will, or, more usually, in conjunction with a will making further provision of death.
A person may choose to make some lifetime gift simply out of generosity, in order to make provision for that person. Sometime it is done to have the pleasure of seeing the beneficiary’s response to the gift, which of course, is not possible if the gift is made by will.
On the other hand, such provisions may be made for other reason such as part of a tax planning exercise or with the intention of minimising the claims for care fees should the donor go into residential care at a later date.
Depending upon circumstances at the time, lifetime provision may be made by means of an outright gift, or, it may be sensible to create a trust.
However it is done, unless the amount involved is very small, it is likely that there will be implications for the giver. These may vary from simply causing a reduction in the giver’s remaining resources through to situations that have profound inheritance or capital gains tax consequences (or both). It is also, regrettably the case, that such arrangements may get caught by anti-avoidance measures of one sort or another and cause more harm than good.
How can we help you ?
We assist you in several ways in deciding whether you want to make any lifetime provisions for anybody.
We can act as a sounding board to you to help decide if, in your circumstances, making lifetime provision is a good idea.
We can advise you as to the various ways that your gift could be structured to best achieve your objectives whilst avoiding the pitfalls.
We can carry out the necessary drafting to give effect to your intentions.
Contact us for more information.
