What a Living Trust actually does
Why it matters
A Living Trust holds assets during your lifetime and passes them without probate on death. It protects a share of the family home from care-fee assessment on second death, ring-fences life cover pay-outs, and prevents 'sideways disinheritance' when a surviving spouse remarries.
Probate in England can take nine to eighteen months. During that time, accounts are frozen and property cannot be sold. A properly funded Living Trust bypasses this entirely.
How it works
You settle assets — a share of the home, a life policy, a lump sum — into the trust. Trustees you appoint hold and manage those assets under the terms you set. On death, distribution is immediate and private, with no probate court involvement.
Who it suits
Families concerned about care fees, second-marriage protection, or the mechanics of probate. Also used where privacy matters more than the wet-signature simplicity of a plain will.
What's involved
We draft the trust, transfer the relevant assets in, and register the trust with HMRC where required. Trustees receive a proper induction on their duties.