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

Services from our Private Client team

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

Cambridge Law Society Private Client Services Team of the Year

Cambridge Law Society Private Client Services Team of the Year
Investors in People

Investors in People

Recommended for Quality

Recommended for Quality

The Times – Best Law Firms 2024 (Private Client)

The Times – Best Law Firms 2024 (Private Client)

Hear what our clients say about us

Lucy has recently drawn up LPAs and wills on behalf of me and my wife Joy.

Throughout she was extremely professional, very personable and explained the unfamiliar complexities of legal jargon in layman’s language, crafted in our best interest.

Lucy is a first class ambassador for your firm and henceforth our default setting for legal assistance. Thank you.

Client Testimonial LPA and Will Drafting

Georgia has been nothing shy of brilliant in terms of keeping me and my brother up to date with all matters – responding efficiently and providing guidance. The work needed to be exceptional and completed professionally and with pace. Georgia delivered that and more.

I value her expertise, she is an asset to the firm and one I will keep in mind for future opportunities.

Client Probate and Land Registry Updates

It has been really reassuring to have your help and professional expertise to take us through the process of resolving the trusts our Dad had set up. You explained everything clearly and enabled us to choose the right solution. You and everyone we engaged with at HCR have consistently been highly professional, caring and supportive.

Client Advice on Trusts

I’ve received a first-class service from HCR’s Private Client team.

I’m exceptionally pleased with the work that has been carried out for me.

Mrs S Estate Administration

I wanted to write and thank you for what you did today. I think you must have the patience of a saint!

I am amazed, to be honest, that you managed to lead this task to a conclusion, I doubted the possibility of it for quite a while!

Client Lasting Power of Attorney

Thank you so much for your helpful advice and for the amazing kindness that you are showing towards me – for which I am so grateful for.

Thank you.

Client Financial abuse

I am so happy with the way in which you handled matters right from the start.

Life is so much easier for me now.

Mr E Lasting Power of Attorney

It’s been a great reassurance to have such expert and reliable help.

Client Older and Vulnerable People

I found Tonina was most approachable and prompt to answer calls.

Client Will, Trusts & Estates

Lauren came to hospital to assist me with getting my will in place. Thank goodness for Lauren, she attended to me with fully drawn-up papers within 24 hours of my instruction, which I was so grateful for as my health was declining fast.

Mrs C Wills & Power of Attorney

I was very impressed with Lauren’s enthusiasm for her work, her professionalism and knowledge of law. She also shows a pragmatism that belies her age. In short, she is a credit to HCR.

Mr K Will, Trusts & Estates

I have never had the pleasure of working with a solicitor so responsive, clear, practical and on top of everything. Thank you for that.

Mr Glynn Probate

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