Asset Protection Trusts
At Rowlinsons we’re experts in Asset Protection Trusts (APTs). We use these efficiently to ensure our clients' interests are protected from undue claims, fees, and taxes. We are on your side and by your side to help you achieve your goals.
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An Asset Protection Trust helps safeguard your assets against potential financial threats, benefitting your family during your lifetime and beyond.
Our Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning Solicitors have many years of experience helping families and individuals across England & Wales protect their assets. Whether you want to keep your home out of reach from creditors or prevent a divorce from swallowing up family wealth we’ll help make your assets secure while remaining compliant with legal and regulatory requirements.
The expertise we show in this area earned us the Excellence in Private Client Award from the National Law Society in 2018. Rowlinsons Solicitors also achieved Highly Commended in the Boutique Private Client Team of the Year category at the British Wills and Probate Awards 2023.
Our team includes some of the most prominent and renowned Trusts Solicitors in Cheshire, several of whom are members of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) further reflecting our technical know-how and expertise in this specialist area of law.
For expert advice on all matters relating to asset protection trusts contact our friendly team today.
A trust can be used to manage any type of asset including land, real estate, personal property, money, and investments for the benefit of certain people.
With an Asset Protection Trust, the goal is to shield your asset from possible liabilities or financial exposure. This includes financial claims in divorce or bankruptcy, care home fees, and legal disputes. An Asset Protection Trust can also be used to safeguard the asset from a financially unreliable beneficiary, so they can still receive provision without squandering the trust funds.
When setting up your Asset Protection Trust you will have to appoint trustees to manage your assets. With a discretionary trust, trustees can decide how to deal with and distribute assets, as long as it's in the best interests of the beneficiaries and in accordance with the trust deed. This provides flexibility and allows the assets to continue to be protected even after you’re gone. Trustees are also responsible for keeping accurate accounts and ensuring that any tax liabilities are paid.
If you want to ensure the effective management of your Asset Protection Trust, our team at Rowlinsons Solicitors can help you choose who to appoint as trustees, assist you in your duties as trustee or even help in the capacity of a professional trustee. We have detailed knowledge of tax issues relating to trusts and can offer specialist legal guidance on how best to protect your assets.
If your family has considerable wealth, you may want to prevent it from being included in a financial settlement in divorce or protect it from bankruptcy creditors so that it can benefit future generations of your family.
Trusts are often used to protect assets for beneficiaries who lack the mental capacity to manage their own financial affairs. It is common practice to write a trust in your will so that the inheritance for younger family members is kept safe for them until they come of age.
When you leave an asset in trust to someone in your will, it will not be included in their estate for inheritance tax purposes when they eventually die. This means you can pass on more wealth tax efficiently to the next generation.
Probate costs can be high and it can be a lengthy process with beneficiaries having to wait until the probate process is complete before accessing their inheritance. For any assets held in trust, there is no probate so beneficiaries receive their inheritance sooner and the estate potentially saves on inheritance tax.
Failing to plan for asset protection may mean your wealth passes on in ways you didn’t intend. A so-called ‘sideways disinheritance’ can occur if your surviving partner remarries. If your widow or widower dies first, without adequate protection, the new spouse and their existing family will have a legitimate claim on your legacy.
Sometimes parents have a good reason for leaving a child out of a will (if they have an addiction to drugs, for example) and wealth could likely be used in ways that harm them and the estate you pass on. Wills can be contested, but it’s much harder to contest a trust.
The family home can be transferred into a trust and it won’t be included in the means testing for care fees later on, but you have to be careful. If you transfer assets into a trust with the object of discounting them from a means-based care assessment this is seen as a deliberate deprivation of assets. The asset could still be considered and you may not qualify for local authority care funding. What’s more, you may struggle to pay care fees if your assets are out of reach.
There are many different reasons for setting up an Asset Protection Trust, depending on your circumstances. We understand that your situation is unique which is why at Rowlinsons Solicitors we tailor our service to you. We’re on your side to ensure your wealth is protected now and in the future.
If you are considering setting up an Asset Protection Trust to protect your assets from claims, excessive tax, or undue fees, the team at Rowlinsons Solicitors can help you.
Our team of Asset Protection Solicitors are available to assess your situation and inform you of the best option for you with a free, no-obligation assessment. Our priority is to provide you with legal advice that is tailored to your situation and protects your interests first.
Rowlinsons Solicitors is renowned in Warrington, Widnes, St Helens, Chester, Northwich, North Wales, and across the UK for the expert legal advice we provide from our offices in Frodsham and Runcorn (Sutton Weaver). We have been awarded the title of Highly Commended in the Boutique Private Client Team of the Year category at the British Wills and Probate Awards 2023 - an achievement reserved for the very best practices in the country. The Asset Protection team also includes members of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), which are regarded as industry-leading experts in trusts in the UK.
Contact Rowlinsons today to speak to one of our specialist Trust Solicitors, and begin the process of setting up or managing a trust effectively.
Call us today for an initial no obligation call or click here for a call back. We also have meeting facilities in North Wales by appointment.
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