Why?
If you ask a lawyer or accountant to help you with a trust, they may suggest being trustees and providing annual accounts and tax returns. That’s good for them.
If you employ a wealth manager, they want to manage the trust funds. That’s good for them.
There have been many occasions when we meet families who have set up trust funds and we ask, why? The answers are often ‘It sounded a good idea at the time’
We are not anti-trusts, on the contrary, we want clients to make the best decisions that are right for the long term without regret. You need to establish their appropriateness and suitability for you.
If you have set up a trust, revisit the benefits and establish if it is still needed. If you want to set up a trust, have you explored thoroughly the alternatives?
Moreover, if you have detailed all the reasons why you should set up a trust; do the same detailing all the reasons you shouldn’t. In this way, you are less likely to ever answer a question about setting up a trust with the words ‘It seemed a good idea at the time’.
It is better to discuss your thoughts and ideas in detail. Flush out your thinking. Establish the urgency. Often these matters whilst important, are not always urgent, which gives you time to get the decision right.