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Trusts

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Rely on us to help safeguard family and business assets with expert trust administration services and advice on tax planning and compliance

A trust is a complex legal arrangement. We are here to guide trustees through the technical detail, providing efficient administration to ensure everyone benefits as they should

Trusts can be a very useful vehicle for safeguarding family and business assets, enabling wealth to be managed efficiently and to be passed to future generations.
Legislation and the tax regime are constantly changing and it is therefore important to make sure your trust is being managed and administered correctly.
By assisting trustees with the tax affairs, management and administration we enable them to concentrate on running the trust effectively and efficiently for the benefit of all the relevant parties.

Expert advice and support on all aspects of trust administration and tax planning

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Read our Trusts case studies for more detail on the difference our support can make

Trusts administration services

Our team has extensive trust administration experience and can help to manage your trust's accounting and tax reporting requirements in a collaborative and efficient manner.
We are also able to provide accounting services to ensure that the trustees have up to date and accurate information available to them. 
Trusts can be liable to a range of tax compliance issues depending on how they are structured. Making sure that all compliance issues with HMRC are dealt with is vital to the efficient management of a trust. We can help with the tax compliance issues affecting the trust including any reporting obligations.
Our team can assist trustees in choosing the most appropriate people to manage the investments and banking and advise on ongoing monitoring of performance.
For more information on our trust administration services, please contact us.

Trust tax planning & compliance

Whether you wish to create a trust, end one or any event in between, our team will work tirelessly to provide a pragmatic and tax-efficient solution.
We can also deal with all of a trust's obligations under self-assessment, producing timely and accurate annual tax returns, not only for the trust, but also for beneficiaries. When required, our team can also use their considerable experience to liaise with HMRC to achieve the best results. 
Additionally, our team can calculate the Inheritance tax due and complete your Inheritance tax returns for chargeable events including when making additions to trust or distributions out of the trust, along with any periodic charges. We can monitor a trust's Inheritance tax status to ensure that chargeable events are not missed.

Trust Accounts


We can provide bookkeeping services and prepare trustees' annual accounts to comply with the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners' guidelines.

Every client is valued equally and treated with genuine compassion.

Legal 500, 2019

Charitable Trusts

We can provide appropriate accounts for your charitable trust, independently examined or audited, where appropriate. We can also fulfil your ongoing compliance obligations by completing the Charity Commission's online annual return on your behalf and where necessary, an annual self-assessment tax return.

Trusteeships

Our advisors have many years of experience of acting as trustees - in particular, they recognise the importance of providing a personal service for our clients.

Examples of the trusts services we can provide

We can provide a tailored service for each trust depending on the circumstances and the individual requirements of the trustees. Below are examples of the services we can provide.

    acting as trustees 
    advising charitable trusts
    preparation of interim and/or annual accounts 
    checking and reconciling investment manager information
    provision of bespoke management reports
    completion and submission of trust tax returns 
    completion and submission of inheritance tax returns dealing with ten year anniversary charges and exits from a trust
    calculating tax liabilities and advising trustees of amounts due and payment dates
    advising trustees on payments to or on behalf of beneficiaries
    preparing trustee resolutions 
    attending trustee meetings 
    liaising with other professional advisers such as banks investment managers, property rental agents etc.

Trusts FAQs

  • What is a Will Trust?

    A Will Trust is an arrangement which comes into effect on the death of the person who sets it up. It is usually contained in that person's Will. It grants those named as trustees control over assets on behalf of others (the beneficiaries). A beneficiary can be anyone, including people who've not yet been born (such as grandchildren). There are lots of ways the trust can be set up to best benefit the beneficiaries and depending on their individuals needs and circumstances.

  • What is a Discretionary Trust?

    Discretionary trusts are trusts where no beneficiary has a present right to the present enjoyment of the income. It is up to the trustees to decide how much beneficiaries receive and when. This means it allows a person to hold onto their assets without being the legal owner. This has significant advantages, including flexibility and versatility.

  • What is a Life Interest Trust?

    A life interest trust allows the beneficiary to have use of certain of the settlor's property during their life time but on their death the property passes to another person. This includes, for example, the use of a house during a spouse's life time but with the house passing to children on the spouse's death.

  • What is a Trustee?

    A trustee is the legal owner of the assets held in a trust. They are responsible for managing the assets according to the settlor’s wishes and the terms of the trust. Trustees have a number of legal duties.

  • How can a Trust protect assets?

    A trust can protect assets in variety of ways, for example, by:
    • Managing the assets for beneficiaries who are not capable of looking after them themselves.
    • Ensuring that a family business remains in the family
    • Reducing inheritance tax liabilities

  • Who can set up a Trust?

    Anyone over the age of 18 can set up a trust. A trust deed must be drawn up, giving details of the trustees and beneficiaries. It should also specify how the trust should be run and which assets will be put into the trust. The assets can then be passed into the trust. 

Contact The Burnside Partnership

For more information on our services or how we can help, please get in touch.