Appointment as a Trustee of your Settlement

Chattertons Trustee Corporation can act as a professional trustee of your settlement (often called a ‘trust’). You can appoint Chattertons Trustee Corporation as your sole trustee, or alongside other trustees of your choice.

Trustees have a number of duties which can include, but may not be limited to:

• Registering the trust for tax purposes at HMRC.
• Ensuring that all inheritance tax, capital gains tax and income tax returns are submitted to HMRC and that the relevant tax is paid in full from the trust fund.
• Acting in the best interests of the beneficiaries and liaising with them as and when required.
• Complying with all responsibilities placed on them by the trust deed and by law.
• Investing the trust fund for the benefit of the beneficiaries.
• Safeguarding the trust property.
• Regularly reviewing the trust assets and the needs of the beneficiaries.
• Liaising with all relevant organisations in relation to the trust assets, e.g. banks and insurance companies.
• Paying the trust liabilities.
• Keeping annual trust accounts which set out the assets, income and liabilities, then producing these to the beneficiaries when required.
• Distributing the trust assets in accordance with the trust deed.

Appointing a professional trustee can be useful in the following cases:

• You may not want to act yourself or burden a friend or family member with the responsibility of ‘paperwork’.
• If there are difficult relationships within your family or there is potential for a dispute about the trust or the appointment of a particular trustee, it may be preferable for an independent third party to deal with matters.
• You may not have a friend or family member who can act.
• The trust assets may be complex and require professional expertise to administer, e.g. they may include a business or foreign property.

The advantages of appointing Chattertons Trustee Corporation are:

• The trust administration will be handled by an appropriately qualified professional body.
• The provision of a seamless and continuous service. Chattertons Trustee Corporation is always available to sign documents and so there are no delays which may otherwise arise if a trustee is unavailable, on holiday, ill etc.
• It is usually necessary to appoint at least two trustees. If you appoint Chattertons Trustee Corporation as a trustee, no second trustee is required.
• A trust corporation owes a higher duty of care to the beneficiaries than a lay trustee.
• Chattertons Trustee Corporation can assist with any difficult decisions.

When Chattertons Trustee Corporation is appointed to act, fees will be charged for dealing with the trust administration of your estate, which will be paid from the trust fund. Further information about fees is available on request. You are though under no obligation to appoint Chattertons Trustee Corporation and are free to appoint any friend, family member or other professional of your choice.  

Contact us

If you would like to talk to a member of our specialist Private Client team please contact your local office or complete our online enquiry form.