Creation and Administration of Trusts

Trusts have long been a feature of succession planning, providing a vehicle to carefully manage the succession of your assets. Our expert solicitors have considerable experience when it comes to setting up and administering trusts and can act as professional trustees if required.

Meet the team

How can a trust help me?

A well administered, correctly structured trust can provide a number of advantages, for example, protecting family assets or vulnerable beneficiaries, deferring children’s inheritance until a specified age, allowing you or your chosen trustees to control the distribution of assets over time, structuring the succession of your assets in a tax efficient way and/or making charitable donations.

Trusts are governed by complex tax regime and navigating this isn’t always easy, so our advisers will work with you and your other professional advisors to ensure the inheritance tax, capital gains tax and income tax implications are explained in plain, simple terms.

Whatever your circumstances and motivations, our private client solicitors will consider the range of options carefully and ensure that the right structure is put in place to meet your needs.

Our experience

Our expert knowledge of the complex and ever-changing legal and tax landscape governing trusts, combined with our approach to bespoke and client focussed solutions, enables us to advise on all aspects of the creation of trusts, the ongoing administration and ultimately, once the trusts’ purposes have been served, the winding up of settlements.

Our experience also extends to the creation and management of offshore trusts and the UK tax implications for those creating the trusts, the trustees and beneficiaries.

We also have a large dedicated trust management team who can assist with all aspects of trust compliance, including administering a significant number of trusts in house, liaising with investment managers reporting to HM Revenue & Customs and preparing trust accounts. In short, we aim to ensure that trustees are fully compliant and satisfy their trustee duties.

In particular, we can help individuals and trustees to:

  • Consider the use of trusts in the context of their wider succession and tax planning strategy
  • Create new trusts and prepare detailed letters of guidance to the trustees
  • Undertake a full review of ongoing and existing trusts and make appropriate recommendations
  • Administer the trust by acting as a professional trustee via our Trust Corporation
  • Appoint and retire trustees, including advice on indemnities
  • Deal with any trust dispute including issues with fellow trustees or beneficiaries
  • Amend the terms of any existing trusts, including dealing with the Variation of Trust claims
  • Understand the role and duties of a trustees
  • Ensure the trust is managed in a tax efficient manner
  • Bring the trust to an end
  • Consider the best means of providing for the trust beneficiaries, including the distribution or investment of trust assets and income and the making of loans, and ensuring those decisions are correctly recorded.
A guide to trusts

Our Private Wealth sector

For clients who have built a significant assets base, they may face a complex legal and tax landscape. Our experts from across our legal services are on hand to provide specialist legal guidance and support to help individuals, their families, trustees and family offices.

Services from our Private Wealth team

Legal updates and thought leadership

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Recognition of our work

Investors in People

Investors in People

Legal 500 2026 – Top Tier Firm

Legal 500 2026 – Top Tier Firm

Hear what our clients say about us

Beth and Leanne‘s thorough understanding of the legal intricacies and their strategic approach ensured that we were always well-informed and confident throughout the entire process. They were not only our legal representatives but also our pillars of support during this challenging time. Their compassionate and empathetic nature made us feel heard and valued, and their relentless pursuit of justice on our behalf was truly commendable. Thanks to their hard work and perseverance, we can now move forward with peace of mind and financial security. I wholeheartedly recommend Beth and Leanne to anyone in need of exceptional legal representation. They are truly outstanding professionals who go above and beyond for their clients.

Client testimonial Probate dispute

In all my dealings with Sean, I have found him to be exceptionally accurate, detailed and comprehensive with any advice. He is always clear and concise with his advice which is cogent and convincing. He is invariably extremely courteous and inspires complete confidence. He is also a very personable, enthusiastic, and approachable individual.

In summary, I can wholeheartedly recommend Sean Boucher to deal with all relevant legal issues.

Sean Boucher Private client

Harriet has been extremely professional and we are very happy with the service provided.

Client testimonial Private client

Harriet was excellent in her support and professionalism. If I have any problems or things I am not sure on I feel confident in asking Harriet for her honest and clear advice.

Client testimonial Private client

I am currently instructing Kerri Woodrow in an estate where I am one of the executors. I have known Kerri for many years and know her to have excellent knowledge of the issues involved. In addition, Kerri offers very practical advice and has quickly established an excellent working relationship with my co-executor and myself.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

Sally Robinson delivers a good client service and is also pragmatic with a technically strong understanding of the law.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

The team at Harrison Clark Rickerby naturally and usually delivers above expectations. Having used HCR for a number of years, delivering above expectations should be a tall order, but it seems to me to happen every time. They are skilled at understanding your questions and exploring the depth of the question and your concerns. The advice is clear, concise and full of depth.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

Tom Murphy-Kirkhope ensures he understands your aims, interprets them, meets to reinforce that both parties are working on the same page and then delivers. He has an able team who supports this process and who ensure support is never far away.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

Claire Pottinger continues to exceed expectations with her knowledge, industry expertise, specialist insights and efficiency. Her diplomacy in a sometimes difficult situation has been exemplary. I don’t know how we would have got through this long and laborious process without her assistance.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

Thank you so much for your help with this matter and for being so considerate in maximising time and minimising costs, it’s greatly appreciated. I know these situations can be tricky and ever-evolving from one day to the next, so your thoughtfulness and efforts to keep things efficient really mean a lot.

Client testimonial

Harriet was very helpful, kind, polite, extremely understanding of my wishes, very easy to speak to and therefore my needs and wishes were met.

Client testimonial Private Client

The team…handles a significant amount of agricultural succession planning work, an area that Carmarthen-based partner, Sean Boucher, is particularly skilled.

Legal 500

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