Creating a Property Protection Trust (sometimes called an asset protection trust, a family protection trust, or a life interest trust) through your Will allows someone to benefit from your estate after you have died as if he or she owned the asset outright (usually a property) without them actually inheriting it. This can be a useful tool for estate planning purposes. Property Protection Trusts are particularly useful for individuals who wish to provide a home for a spouse or partner but wish for their own children to inherit the assets on the death of the spouse or partner rather than passing the assets to the spouse or partner outright who can then dispose of the asset as they wish. Property protection Wills are also ideal for couples who are concerned that one of them may need long-term care at some point in the future and wish to protect the whole value of their property from an assessment to long-term care fees if one spouse has died and the surviving spouse then requires long term care.

What Is a Property Protection Trust?

A Property Protection Trust in a Will is a Trust which comes into effect on the death of the person who has made the Will. The Trust is established to allow someone to live in the property, following the death of the owner, usually for the rest of the occupier’s lifetime, whilst protecting the capital value of the property for the benefit of others. The occupant of the property will never become the legal owner of the property. The legal owners of the property will be the “Trustees” and the person receiving the benefit of the asset (the property) is called the “Beneficiary”.

Why Is It Used/When Would it be needed?

Property Protection Trusts are often made by individuals who have children from previous relationships but would like to provide a home for their current spouse or partner. The Trust enables the spouse or partner to have the benefit of continuing to live in the family home, but the capital value of the property will then pass to the individuals’ own children once the spouse or partner no longer needs the benefit of living in the property.

These Trusts are also used to protect a property, or a share of it, from a change of circumstances of the occupier of the property such as being declared bankrupt, remarriage or going into long term care.

In the case of planning for long term care, where a property is jointly owned, couples are able to change the manner of ownership of their property to “tenants in common” which means they will then each own a 50% share of the property. By including a property trust in your Will, you can effectively ring-fence your share of the property by placing it in Trust on your death and giving your spouse or partner the right to continue to occupy the property as if they still owned the whole property. This means that when you die, your 50% share of the property will not pass to your spouse or your partner, but they will still be able to live in the property for the rest of their life. This means that if the surviving spouse or partner then required long term care in the future, only their own 50% share of the property could be used to fund their care, rather than the whole 100% value of the property had they otherwise inherited the entire property outright.

Who Controls The Trust?

The Trust is usually managed by the people who you choose in your Will to be the Executors of your estate. The Trustees of the Trust can be different to the people you name to be the Executors of your estate but usually the people who are named as your Executors will act as the Trustees of the Trust once their role as Executors in administering the estate has been concluded and they then take up their appointment as Trustees of any ongoing Trusts created in your Will.

How Much Does It Cost for a Property Protection Trust?

Our fees for a Property Protection Trust for an individual (i.e. for a single Will) are fixed at £400 plus VAT or for a couple both creating Property Protection Trust Wills (i.e. “mirror Wills”) our fees are fixed at £550 plus VAT.

Will Trusts Solicitors in Sheffield & Barnsley

For help and advice in the preparation and drafting of your Will, please get in touch with our team today on 0114 2813636 or send us a message via our contact page.