Still Living in Your House After Putting It in Trust? Here’s What You Need to Know.

When considering estate planning with trust property, one of the most common questions homeowners ask is: can I still live in my house after putting it into a trust? The short answer is yes — but the detail matters enormously, and getting the structure wrong can have serious consequences for inheritance tax (IHT) and care fee protection.

At MP Estate Planning, we help ordinary homeowners across England and Wales protect their family homes using trusts — legal arrangements that England invented over 800 years ago. In this guide, we’ll explain exactly how putting your house in trust works, what the Gift with Reservation of Benefit rules mean for you, and how the right trust structure lets you stay in your home while still protecting it for your family.

Understanding the financial and legal implications of living in trust property is crucial. With the average home in England now worth around £290,000 and the IHT nil rate band frozen at £325,000 since 2009 — confirmed frozen until at least April 2031 — more families than ever are being caught by the 40% inheritance tax charge. Planning ahead makes all the difference.

Key Takeaways

• You can continue living in your home after placing it in trust — but the type of trust and how it’s structured determines whether you get genuine IHT and care fee protection, or none at all.
• The Gift with Reservation of Benefit (GROB) rules are the critical consideration: if you give away your home but keep living in it without proper arrangements, HMRC treats it as still in your estate.
• A properly structured trust — such as a Family Home Protection Trust or Gifted Property Trust — can navigate these rules lawfully and effectively.
• Trust setup costs typically start from £850, which is the equivalent of less than one week’s care home fees — a one-off investment versus potentially unlimited ongoing costs.
• Specialist legal advice is essential — the law, like medicine, is broad, and you need a trust specialist, not a general practitioner.

What Is a Trust and How Does It Work?

A trust is a legal arrangement — not a company, not a legal entity — where one person (the settlor) transfers assets to trustees, who then hold and manage those assets for the benefit of named beneficiaries. The trustees become the legal owners, but they must manage the property according to the terms set out in the trust deed. This separation of legal and beneficial ownership is the foundation of English trust law and has been used for over 800 years.

The two primary classifications of trusts in England and Wales are lifetime trusts (created during the settlor’s lifetime) and will trusts (which only take effect on death). When we talk about putting your house in trust while you’re still alive, we’re talking about a lifetime trust. This is a fundamentally different — and often more powerful — planning tool than relying on a will alone.

Definition of a Trust

A trust is a legal arrangement where the settlor transfers assets to trustees, who hold legal title to those assets and manage them for the benefit of named beneficiaries according to the terms of the trust deed. Crucially, a trust has no separate legal personality — the trustees are the legal owners. When you place your home in trust, the property title is transferred to the trustees (or a declaration of trust is made over the beneficial interest if there’s a mortgage), and the trust deed governs how the property is dealt with from that point forward.

Types of Trusts Relevant to Homeowners

There are three main types of trust that homeowners in England and Wales need to understand. The type you choose determines the level of protection you receive:

• Discretionary Trusts: The most commonly used type for asset protection (around 98–99% of family trusts). Trustees have absolute discretion over who benefits, when, and how much. No beneficiary has any automatic right to income or capital — and this is precisely what provides protection against care fees, divorce, and creditors. Can last up to 125 years under current law.
• Interest in Possession Trusts: The income beneficiary (life tenant) has a right to income from or use of the trust property. The capital goes to a different beneficiary (the remainderman) when the life interest ends. Common in will trusts to prevent sideways disinheritance — for example, ensuring a surviving spouse can stay in the home but the property ultimately passes to the children from a first marriage. Post-March 2006 interest in possession trusts are generally treated under the relevant property regime for IHT unless they qualify as an immediate post-death interest (IPDI) or disabled person’s interest.
• Bare Trusts: The beneficiary has an absolute right to both income and capital once they reach 18. The trustee is merely a nominee. These offer virtually no asset protection — under the principle in Saunders v Vautier, a beneficiary can collapse the trust at any time after reaching majority, and the assets are fully exposed to care fee assessments, divorce claims, and creditors. They are not IHT-efficient either. Not recommended for family home protection.

The Role of a Trustee

Trustees are the legal owners of the trust property and carry a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries. A minimum of two trustees is required, and the settlor can be one of them — which is an important point, because it means you don’t have to hand over all control when you put your home in trust. Their key duties include:

When considering placing your home in trust, understanding the role of a trustee is vital. The settlor can also be a trustee, which means you retain a direct role in managing your own property within the trust.

Reasons for Placing a Home in Trust

When considering estate planning, one of the most important decisions you can make is whether to place your home in trust. With the average home in England now worth around £290,000 and the IHT nil rate band frozen at £325,000 since 2009, this is no longer a decision just for the wealthy. As Mike Pugh, founder of MP Estate Planning, puts it: “Trusts are not just for the rich — they’re for the smart.”

Protection from Inheritance Tax

Inheritance tax is charged at 40% on the value of your estate above the nil rate band (currently £325,000 per person, frozen since 6 April 2009 and confirmed frozen until at least April 2031). For married couples and civil partners, the unused nil rate band of the first spouse to die transfers to the survivor — giving a combined nil rate band of up to £650,000. On top of this, the residence nil rate band (RNRB) provides an additional £175,000 per person (up to £350,000 for a couple), but only if a qualifying residential interest passes to direct descendants — children, grandchildren, or step-children. It is not available if the home is left to nephews, nieces, siblings, friends, or charities. The RNRB also tapers away by £1 for every £2 that the estate exceeds £2,000,000. This gives a maximum combined threshold of £1,000,000 for a married couple — but only if the RNRB conditions are met.

By transferring your property into a properly structured irrevocable trust — such as a Gifted Property Trust — you can start the 7-year clock on the transfer. If you survive seven years, the value transferred falls outside your estate entirely. For families where the home is the largest single asset, this can save tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds in IHT. It’s important to note that this is tax-efficient planning within the rules — not tax avoidance. It’s also worth understanding that a transfer into a discretionary trust is classified as a Chargeable Lifetime Transfer (CLT), not a Potentially Exempt Transfer (PET). However, if the value is within the available nil rate band at the time of transfer, there is no entry charge at all.

Bypassing Probate Delays

When someone dies, their sole-name assets are frozen until a Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration under intestacy) is obtained from the Probate Registry. The full probate process typically takes 3–12 months, and if there’s property to sell, it can stretch to 9–18 months or longer. During this time, bank accounts are locked, bills can go unpaid, and the family home sits in limbo. The will also becomes a public document once the Grant is issued — anyone can obtain a copy for a small fee.

Trust assets bypass probate entirely. Because the trustees are already the legal owners, there is no need to wait for a Grant. The trustees can act immediately upon the settlor’s death — maintaining the property, supporting the family, and distributing assets according to the trust deed. This is one of the most practical and immediate benefits of placing your home in trust.

Protecting Assets from Care Fees, Divorce, and Creditors

Between 40,000 and 70,000 homes are sold every year in England to fund care. With residential care averaging £1,100–£1,300 per week and nursing care reaching £1,400–£1,500 per week (more in London and the south, where costs can exceed £1,700 per week), a family home can be consumed in just a few years. If your capital exceeds £23,250, you’re classified as a self-funder and must pay in full. Between £14,250 and £23,250, you make a partial contribution. Only below £14,250 does the local authority fund your care.

A properly structured discretionary trust — set up years in advance of any foreseeable care need — can protect the family home from being assessed as the individual’s capital for local authority care funding purposes. The key is that no beneficiary has an automatic right to the trust assets, which means the local authority cannot simply treat the property as belonging to the person in care. At MP Estate Planning, we document at least nine legitimate reasons for establishing the trust, none of which mention care fees. Care fee protection is an ancillary benefit, not the primary purpose — and this distinction is critical in defending against any “deprivation of assets” challenge. Unlike the 7-year IHT rule, there is no fixed time limit for deprivation of assets claims, but the longer the gap between the transfer and the care need, the harder it is for the local authority to establish that avoidance of care fees was a significant operative purpose.

Trusts also protect against divorce (with around 42% of UK marriages ending in divorce, this is a real risk) and creditor claims. As Mike Pugh explains the divorce protection concept: “What house? I don’t own a house” — because the trust owns it.

Can You Continue to Live in a Trust-Owned Property?

This is the question that brings most people to this page, and the answer depends entirely on the type of trust and how it’s structured. The critical issue is the Gift with Reservation of Benefit (GROB) rules: if you give away your home but continue to benefit from it (for example, by living in it rent-free), HMRC treats the property as still being in your estate for IHT purposes — even if you survive seven years.

There is also the Pre-Owned Assets Tax (POAT) to consider: if the GROB rules don’t technically apply but you still benefit from a formerly-owned asset, HMRC may impose an annual income tax charge instead. This is why the choice of trust structure is so important. There are legitimate ways to continue living in your home after placing it in trust, but you need specialist advice to navigate these rules correctly.

Retaining Occupancy Rights

There are several lawful approaches to continuing to live in a trust-owned property, depending on your circumstances and planning objectives:

• Family Home Protection Trust (Plus): This trust structure is designed specifically for homeowners who want to remain in their property. It protects the home from care fees while retaining IHT reliefs including the residence nil rate band. The settlor continues to live in the property, and the trust is structured to ensure this does not create a GROB issue.
• Gifted Property Trust with rent arrangement: The settlor transfers the property into trust and pays full market rent to the trustees. This avoids GROB because the settlor is paying for their occupation. It also starts the 7-year clock for IHT purposes, potentially removing the property’s value from the estate entirely.
• Transfer of an undivided share: The settlor transfers a share of the property (for example, 50%) into trust while retaining a share for themselves. Both the settlor and the trust beneficiaries continue to occupy the property. This is a legitimate exception to the GROB rules.

The trust deed must clearly set out the terms of occupation and the basis on which the settlor remains in the property. Getting this wrong doesn’t just reduce the tax benefit — it can eliminate it entirely.

Practical Considerations for Living in Trust Property

Living in a trust-owned property is, day to day, much the same as living in your own home. The key practical considerations are:

1. You can be a trustee: The settlor can (and often should) be appointed as one of the trustees. This means you retain direct involvement in decisions about the property, including any maintenance or improvements.
2. Insurance and maintenance: The insurance policy must be updated to reflect that the property is held in trust (more on this below). Maintenance responsibilities should be clearly set out — often the occupying beneficiary or settlor handles day-to-day upkeep, with the trustees responsible for major decisions.
3. Trust Registration Service (TRS): The trust must be registered with HMRC’s TRS within 90 days of creation. This is a mandatory requirement for all UK express trusts under the 5th Money Laundering Directive. The register is not publicly accessible (unlike Companies House), so your privacy is maintained.
4. Land Registry: If legal title is transferred to the trustees, this is recorded at the Land Registry via a TR1 form. A Form RX1 restriction is typically placed on the title. If there’s a mortgage, a declaration of trust over the beneficial interest is used instead, with legal title remaining with the mortgagor (because the lender’s consent would be needed for a full transfer). Up to four trustees can be registered on a property title at the Land Registry.

By getting the right trust structure in place with specialist advice, you can continue living in your home with full peace of mind — knowing the property is protected for your family’s future.

The Benefits of Putting Your Home in Trust

For homeowners across England and Wales, transferring property into a trust is one of the most effective steps you can take to protect your family’s wealth. Not losing the family money provides the greatest peace of mind above all else — and a trust is the mechanism that makes this possible.

Estate Planning Advantages

The estate planning advantages of a trust go far beyond what a will can achieve on its own. A will only takes effect after death, goes through probate (which can take 3–12 months), becomes a public document, and offers no protection against care fees, divorce, or creditor claims during your lifetime. A lifetime trust, by contrast, takes effect immediately, bypasses probate entirely, remains private, and can protect assets from all of these threats.

Consider the numbers: if your estate exceeds the nil rate band (£325,000 per person), your family could face a 40% IHT bill on the excess. For a couple with a £600,000 home and £100,000 in other assets, that could mean an IHT liability of over £100,000 — money that could otherwise stay in the family. A properly structured trust can significantly reduce or eliminate this liability over time. A reduced IHT rate of 36% is also available where 10% or more of the net estate is left to charity, but for most families the priority is keeping the home within the family.

Trust assets also cannot be challenged under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 in the same way as assets passing under a will, providing an additional layer of protection for your chosen beneficiaries.

Flexibility for Future Generations

A discretionary trust provides remarkable flexibility for future generations. Because the trustees have discretion over how and when assets are distributed, the trust can adapt to changing family circumstances over its lifetime — up to 125 years under the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009. This means the trust can respond to events that nobody could have predicted at the time it was created: a beneficiary going through divorce, developing a spending problem, facing bankruptcy, or needing care.

For more detailed information on the process of putting a house in trust in the UK, you can visit our page on putting a house in a trust. This resource provides comprehensive guidance on the legal and financial implications of trusts.

Potential Drawbacks of a Trust

While trusts are one of the most effective estate planning tools available, they do come with considerations that you should understand before proceeding. Being informed about these factors helps you make a confident decision.

Loss of Control Over Your Property

When you transfer your home into an irrevocable trust, legal ownership passes to the trustees. This means you cannot simply sell the property or remortgage it without the trustees’ agreement. However, this perceived “loss of control” is often overstated. In practice, the settlor is usually appointed as one of the trustees, which means you retain direct involvement in all decisions. Mike’s trusts are drafted with “Standard and Overriding powers” — carefully defined powers that give the trustees flexibility to respond to changing circumstances without making the trust revocable (which would defeat the purpose for IHT planning).

It’s also worth noting that a revocable trust provides no IHT benefit whatsoever — HMRC treats the assets as still belonging to the settlor (this is known as a settlor-interested trust). So the irrevocable nature isn’t a drawback; it’s the feature that makes the protection work. The question isn’t whether to give up some control, but whether the protection of your family home is worth it.

Tax Implications to Consider

Trusts have their own tax regime, and it’s important to understand this before setting one up. The key points for homeowners to be aware of are:

As the table shows, for the vast majority of homeowners placing their family home into a discretionary trust, the ongoing tax costs are minimal or nil. The perception that trusts are expensive to run is largely a myth — particularly when compared to the 40% IHT charge or the £1,200–£1,500 per week in care fees that trusts help protect against.

Setting Up a Trust: What to Expect

Setting up a trust for your home is a straightforward process when you work with a specialist — though it’s not something to attempt with a general solicitor who dabbles in trusts. As Mike Pugh says: “The law — like medicine — is broad. You wouldn’t want your GP doing surgery.”

Legal Requirements and Documentation

To set up a lifetime trust for your property, you will need to:

• Draft the trust deed: This is the legal document that sets out the terms of the trust — who the settlor is, who the trustees are, who the beneficiaries are, and what powers the trustees have. This is the foundation document and must be drafted correctly.
• Transfer the property: If the property is mortgage-free, legal title is transferred to the trustees using a TR1 form at the Land Registry. If there’s a mortgage, a declaration of trust is used to transfer the beneficial interest while legal title remains with the mortgagor (because the lender’s consent would be needed for a full transfer). Over time, as the mortgage goes down and the property value goes up, all that growth happens inside the trust. A Form RX1 restriction is placed on the title.
• Register the trust: All UK express trusts must be registered on HMRC’s Trust Registration Service (TRS) within 90 days of creation. This is a mandatory requirement under the 5th Money Laundering Directive. The TRS register is not publicly accessible.
• Appoint trustees: A minimum of two trustees is required. The settlor can be one of them. Up to four trustees can be registered on a property title at the Land Registry.

Trust setup costs typically start from £850 for straightforward cases, with most family trusts falling in the range of £850–£2,000+ depending on complexity. MP Estate Planning is the first and only company in the UK that actively publishes all prices on YouTube, so there are no hidden surprises. When you compare this to the cost of care fees (£1,100–£1,500 per week), the trust pays for itself in less than a fortnight.

Engaging a Specialist Trust Practitioner

Given the complexity of trust law and the consequences of getting it wrong (particularly around GROB rules, Pre-Owned Assets Tax, and IHT), it’s essential to work with a specialist trust practitioner rather than a general solicitor or financial adviser. A specialist will:

• Assess your specific circumstances using a comprehensive threat analysis — MP Estate Planning uses its proprietary Estate Pro AI, a 13-point threat analysis tool that identifies the specific risks your family faces.
• Recommend the most suitable trust structure for your goals — whether that’s a Family Home Protection Trust (Plus), Gifted Property Trust, Settlor Excluded Asset Protection Trust (for buy-to-let or investment properties), or another arrangement.
• Ensure the trust deed is properly drafted with the correct powers and provisions, including Standard and Overriding powers where appropriate.
• Handle all Land Registry and TRS registration requirements.
• Advise on the ongoing compliance obligations, including any trust tax return requirements (SA900).

By working with a specialist from the outset, you can be confident that your trust is set up correctly and will deliver the protection you need — both now and for future generations.

Trustee Responsibilities Explained

The trustee’s role is pivotal in ensuring that the trust operates according to its terms and for the benefit of the beneficiaries. As the legal owners of the trust property, trustees carry a fiduciary duty — the highest standard of care recognised in English law.

Managing the Trust and Property

Managing the trust and its property is a significant responsibility. This includes maintaining the property, ensuring it is adequately insured, dealing with any repairs or improvements, and managing the financial aspects of the trust such as filing SA900 trust tax returns where required. For a family home held in trust, the practical day-to-day management is usually straightforward — particularly because the settlor often continues to live in and look after the property.

Because the settlor can be appointed as one of the trustees, they retain direct involvement in all property decisions. This is a key feature of the trusts we create at MP Estate Planning — you don’t hand over control to strangers. The trust deed also includes a clear process for removing and replacing trustees if circumstances change, and a letter of wishes can provide guidance to the trustees on how the settlor would like the trust to be administered.

For more detailed guidance on putting your house in a trust in the UK, you can refer to our resource on how to put your house in a trust.

Duties Towards Beneficiaries

The trustee’s duties towards beneficiaries are multifaceted and legally enforceable. Trustees must act impartially among the beneficiaries as a class, ensure the trust is administered in accordance with the trust deed, and act with reasonable care and skill. In a discretionary trust, the trustees must actively consider the needs of all potential beneficiaries when exercising their discretion — they cannot simply ignore certain beneficiaries or favour others without proper justification.

Beneficiaries of a discretionary trust do not have an automatic right to trust income or capital (which is what provides the protection), but they do have the right to expect proper administration and can request information about the trust and its accounts. Trustees who fail in their duties can be personally liable and can be removed and replaced.

In summary, the role of a trustee is a position of trust and responsibility — but when the trust is properly drafted and the settlor is a trustee, it works as a practical, manageable arrangement that most families handle comfortably alongside their normal lives.

How a Trust Affects Home Insurance

When you place your home in a trust, one practical matter that needs immediate attention is your home insurance. Because the legal ownership of the property changes (from you personally to the trustees), your insurer needs to be informed — and your policy needs to be updated.

Updating Your Policy

After transferring your property into a trust, you must notify your home insurance provider and update the policy to reflect that the property is now held in trust by the named trustees. This is not optional — failing to update the policy could invalidate your cover entirely, meaning that if you needed to make a claim (for fire, flood, subsidence, or any other insured event), the insurer could refuse to pay out.

In practice, most mainstream insurers are familiar with trust-owned properties and can update the policy relatively quickly. The policy should name the trustees as the insured parties (since they are now the legal owners), and the settlor/occupier should be noted as the person in occupation.

Coverage Considerations

When reviewing your home insurance policy after the property is placed in trust, consider the following:

• Policyholder details: Ensure the policy is in the names of the trustees “as trustees of [trust name]” rather than in your personal name.
• Buildings and contents cover: Check that the levels of cover remain appropriate. The rebuild value and contents value shouldn’t change simply because the property is now in trust.
• Premium changes: In most cases, premiums should not increase simply because the property is trust-owned. If your insurer tries to charge significantly more, it’s worth shopping around — many specialist insurers handle trust properties routinely.
• Liability cover: Ensure the policy includes public liability cover for the trustees in their capacity as property owners.

By notifying your insurer promptly and ensuring the policy is correctly updated, you protect both the trust property and the trustees from any gaps in cover. This is a straightforward administrative step that your trust practitioner should flag as part of the setup process.

Distributing Assets After Your Death

One of the most significant advantages of holding property in trust is what happens — or rather, what doesn’t have to happen — when you die. Unlike assets held in your sole name (which are frozen during probate), trust assets can be dealt with immediately by the trustees, without waiting for a Grant of Probate from the Probate Registry.

This means your family doesn’t face months of uncertainty, frozen bank accounts, or the stress of navigating the probate process while grieving. The trustees simply continue to administer the trust according to its terms.

The Process After the Settlor’s Death

When the settlor dies, the trustees’ responsibilities continue according to the trust deed. The typical steps are:

• The trustees are notified of the settlor’s death (the death certificate should be obtained and a copy provided to the trustees)
• The trust deed is reviewed to confirm the distribution provisions — who should benefit, when, and how
• The trust property is valued (for IHT reporting purposes and to inform any distribution decisions)
• If the trust is a discretionary trust, the trustees exercise their discretion to distribute the property to the beneficiaries at the appropriate time — this might mean allowing a surviving spouse to continue living in the property, or transferring the property to the children
• The trust may continue for the benefit of future generations (up to 125 years) or the trustees may choose to wind it up and distribute all assets

Crucially, none of this requires a court application, a public filing, or a Grant of Probate. It all happens privately, between the trustees and the beneficiaries, in accordance with the trust deed.

Beneficiary Rights

The rights of beneficiaries depend on the type of trust:

1. Discretionary trust beneficiaries: Have no automatic right to income or capital — they have a right to be considered by the trustees, and a right to proper administration of the trust, but they cannot demand distributions. This is the key feature that provides protection.
2. Interest in possession beneficiaries (life tenants): Have a right to the income from or use of the trust property during their lifetime. The capital passes to the remainderman when the life interest ends.
3. Bare trust beneficiaries: Have an absolute right to both income and capital once they reach 18. They can demand the trust property be handed over to them at any time after that — which is why bare trusts offer no meaningful asset protection.

All beneficiaries have the right to request information about the trust’s administration and to hold the trustees to account if they fail in their duties. In a well-drafted trust with responsible trustees, the administration after death is typically smooth, private, and far less stressful than the probate process.

Common Misconceptions About Living in a Trust

There are several persistent myths about trusts that prevent people from taking action to protect their homes. Let’s address the most common ones directly.

Myths About Trusts and Home Ownership

Perhaps the biggest myth is that trusts are only for the wealthy. In reality, with the average home in England now worth around £290,000 and the IHT threshold frozen at £325,000 — with no increase for inflation since 2009 — millions of ordinary homeowners are now in the IHT net. This frozen threshold is the number one reason ordinary homeowners are now caught by inheritance tax. As Mike Pugh puts it: “Trusts are not just for the rich — they’re for the smart.” Keeping families wealthy strengthens the country as a whole.

Another common myth is that putting your home in trust means you “lose” it or can be evicted by the trustees. This simply isn’t true when the trust is properly structured. The settlor typically becomes a trustee, the trust deed sets out clear occupancy provisions, and the whole arrangement is designed so that your day-to-day life doesn’t change — but your family’s long-term protection is dramatically improved.

A third misconception is that trusts are prohibitively expensive or complicated to run. When you compare the cost of a trust to the potential costs of care fees or family disputes, it’s one of the most cost-effective forms of protection available. Trust setup costs start from £850 — less than a single week of care home fees. And for a family home with no rental income, the ongoing tax and administration costs are typically minimal or nil.

Clarifying Ownership vs. Beneficiary Status

Understanding the distinction between legal ownership and beneficial interest is fundamental to English trust law — and it’s the concept that makes trusts work. This separation was invented in England over 800 years ago and remains one of the most powerful legal concepts in the world. When property is placed in trust, the trustees hold legal title (they are the registered owners at the Land Registry), but the beneficiaries hold the beneficial interest (they are the people the trust is intended to benefit).

This separation is the mechanism that provides protection. Here’s how it works in practice:

By understanding this distinction, you can see that placing your home in trust isn’t about giving it away — it’s about changing who holds the legal title so that the property is protected, while your beneficial enjoyment of it continues as before.

Conclusion: Is It Worth Setting Up a Trust for Your Home?

For the vast majority of homeowners in England and Wales, the answer is yes — a properly structured trust is one of the most cost-effective and powerful forms of protection available for your family home. When you weigh up the one-off cost (from £850) against the threats it protects against — 40% inheritance tax, care fees of £1,100–£1,500+ per week, a 42% divorce rate, creditor claims, and the delays and public nature of probate — the case is compelling.

Key Considerations

Before proceeding, consider these key questions: Is your estate likely to exceed the IHT nil rate band? Do you want to protect your home from being sold to fund care? Are you concerned about your children’s marriages or financial stability? Would you prefer your estate to be administered privately and without delay? If you answered yes to any of these, a trust is likely right for you. Plan, don’t panic — but do plan, and plan early. You cannot transfer assets once a foreseeable need for care has arisen, and the longer the gap between the transfer and any future care need, the stronger your position.

Seeking Professional Advice

Trust law is specialist work. We strongly recommend working with a specialist trust practitioner who understands the interaction between IHT, care fees, GROB rules, Pre-Owned Assets Tax, and property law. At MP Estate Planning, we use our proprietary Estate Pro AI 13-point threat analysis to identify the specific risks your family faces and recommend the right trust structure for your circumstances. Every price is published transparently, and you’ll know exactly what you’re getting before you commit.

If you’d like to understand whether a trust is right for your situation, start by reading our comprehensive guide to putting a house in trust, or get in touch with our team for a personal consultation.