A couple using a Will writing company were advised to set-up an Asset Protection Trust that promised to protect their assets from a variety of
things such as care-home fees and inheritance tax.
The couple paid over £3,000 for their Wills and trust deeds without ever really understanding what they were being provided
with or an explanation of how the trust was supposed to work.
A few years later they came in to see us to update their Will and we identified that their house was now owned by their trustees
as it had been put into trust. This meant that they effectively no longer owned their own property and so they couldn’t leave it
in their Will as they had wished. To make matters worse, the trust deed was expressed to be irrevocable so they couldn’t simply
‘undo’ the deed and restore the property to their ownership.
The terms of the Will and the trusts deeds actually conflicted with each other, which served to complicate matters even further.
The Will company, as unfortunately, can be very common, had gone into liquidation and therefore they were not able to approach
them to complain and seek their assistance.
We had to make an application to the high court in Leeds to set aside the trust on the basis that it was created as a result of a
mistake. The costs of this application were around £5,000 altogether.
Clients should also be very wary of bold claims that they may be able to avoid care fees etc as this is invariably not correct in the
majority of circumstances. Please seek advise before creating one of these trusts.
