The Origin of Trusts and How Will Trusts Can Benefit You.

Trusts can be traced back to the Middle Ages in the 11th and 12th centuries in England. Crusading English knights left their manors and estates in the care of trusted allies for safekeeping whilst they were away on crusades.

The concept of trusts can also be traced back to ancient Rome, where arrangements were used to manage and safeguard assets. Early forms of trusts were present in Roman law, where an arrangement known as “fiducia” allowed one party to manage property on behalf of another.

Nowadays trusts are still very much relevant and are used to achieve a number of objectives. Trusts are regulated by the Trustee Act 2000 which mostly repealed the Trustee Act 1925.

Despite historic reliance on trusts, clients do tend to still feel apprehensive in relation to embarking on the trust route in relation to financial/estate planning, this is likely due to their mysterious and perhaps misunderstood nature.

How can will trusts benefit you?

Will trusts can help provide asset protection, control over distribution of assets, and tax planning benefits, especially for beneficiaries such as children, vulnerable adults and surviving spouses or civil partners.

Trusts can also ring fence assets from the undesirable such as care home fees, divorce or creditors.

Examples

Inheritance tax (Agricultural and Business assets)

As of 6 April 2026, the government have proposed a £1 million allowance for 100% Agricultural and Business Relief, with a reduced 50% relief on any value above this. Under the proposals, this allowance cannot be transferred between spouses or civil partners unlike the nil rate band and residence nil rate band.

In this instance it might be beneficial to include a trust in your will to ensure you and your spouse or civil partner benefit from the maximum inheritance tax reliefs available to you.

Care fee planning

If care fee planning is a concern, you might wish to look at including a life interest trust in your will, for example in relation to your share of your property. Although trusts do not fully exempt parties from potential care fees, this is an effective way of safeguarding assets for your ultimate beneficiaries whilst also providing security for your surviving spouse or civil partner during their lifetime, without being considered to have deliberately deprived yourself of assets.

Protection of funds

If you have concerns regarding leaving capital outright to a potential beneficiary as they are unable to curb their spending habits, it might be beneficial to seek advice regarding including a trust in your will so that your chosen beneficiary does not have immediate access to their inheritance on your death.

Here at Lanyon Bowdler we have a number of solicitors specialising in wills and trusts. If the area of will trusts has peaked your interest and you would like advice in relation to such, please get in touch with one of our Private Client Team who will be happy to assist you and answer any queries you may have.