Householders warned about trust fund sales

Doorstep Selling = no!

Local residents are being warned about doorstep callers offering to set up trust accounts to protect family assets against future care costs. One legal services company based in the East of England, has had representatives calling on households in Longwell Green, Warmley and Kingswood selling a scheme aimed at  ensuring the house and other assets are passed on to the children and not used to pay residential care costs if  they become unable to look after themselves in old age. While there is nothing illegal in the services being offered, the costs are high (some clients have been asked for advance payments of over £2000) and, depending on the circumstances, the schemes can have more drawbacks than advantages.

Darrell Collins, a partner at Keynsham solicitors FDC Law and a private client specialist warns that setting up a Trust Fund during someone’s lifetime is not only an expensive and complex option, it also means residents no longer own and have control over their homes. She also explains that tax liabilities can be passed on to the children. “I would never recommend anyone to buy anything as important as this from a person who knocks on your door. You should always go to a solicitor for such specialist advice, ideally a Member of Solicitors for the Elderly (who specialise in advice for elderly clients) and/or a STEP member (Society for Trusts and Estates Practitioners).  While setting up a Trust Fund can cost between £2-3000, there are simpler ways to protect your house against care fees which cost a fraction of that.   A Trust can be set up during the client’s lifetime transferring the family home into a trust to protect it from care fees but this is a more complex option which many of our clients choose to avoid as the cost of setting up such an arrangement, the lack of control over the family home once it is placed into trust, and the ongoing administrative costs often prove prohibitive.”

Another option is to set up a simple trust in the client’s Will. By placing the trust in the client’s Will, the client is free to continue to use the property during their lifetime and will not suffer any negative tax implications during their lifetime or any problems with loss of control of the asset. Rather than costing thousands of pounds to initially set up and run, this option would normally cost less than £300.”  

If you want to find out more about this or arrange an appointment to discuss the options get in touch with FDC Law in Frome, Midsomer Norton or Keynsham.