House in Trust or not?

[Alpacasmum]

DH and I are making new wills.
We have no relatives at all and our friends are older than us, so no one to act as executors or trustees. Would have to rely on solicitors.

We are thinking about putting our house in trust, not to avoid care home fees but we have no family and really want the charities we have both worked hard for all our lives to get our money.
Any advice please?

Proper legal advice needed I think.

As start point, what are your ages now and are you both in good health?

We are late sixties and have some health issues.

"really want the charities we have both worked hard for all our lives to get our money."

If that's the case then just leave everything to each other and then when the second person passes away it goes to the charity. In that situation there will be no inheritance tax to pay and the charities will get everything.

Or is it more that you want the charities to get the money rather than possibly using it fund care home fees?

If one of you goes into a care home then the value of your home won't be counted when the council decides if you have to pay for the care (as long as the other person is still living there).

If you both end up in a care home then they will count the value of your home.

As a pp said, you do need to speak to a solicitor about the best way to arrange your finances. There is an organisation called the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) who specialise in all this sort of planning.

If you google something like "STEP solicitor [name of your town]" then that will give you a list of local solicitors who will be experienced in this area.

Just leave the charities everything in your will. I hope you are not trying to avoid care home fees! That would be immoral!

Of course it's fine to want your money to go to a charity. But morally if you have enough money to fund any care you may need, that should be paid for first.
Otherwise you are just actively avoiding care costs, you can't dress it up any other way.

Care home fees are provided for.
We are not in any way immoral people - I don't think!!!

Having had an experience with a trust. I am totally against them. There may be cases when you have to have one e.g. to provide for a relative who has needs.
In my experience solicitors will always advise a trust as they can take a lot of money from sorting them out after a death. The problem is that solicitors are not accountants and they don’t always understand the financial drawbacks of them.The trust I had experience with had to have a yearly tax return and for the money involved it was not worth it. Even if you got a solicitor and accountant together and made provision for a trust the tax laws of this country could change.

In that case can't you just leave the house as an asset to the charities of your choice?

In that case, if you have £5000 plus a month for care home fees, per person, for an undefined period without selling your house you are wealthy and you would surely just write wills to benefit the charities. I’m not sure why, if you have considerable funds, you want the property in a trust. What would be the point of that?

Get mirror wills leaving every thing to the other then to whatever charities you want. Appoint a firm of solicitors to act as executors (choose a firm with at least 3 partners ideally)

Definitely a bad idea you do realise that a trust means you do not own the assets trustees would if your relying on solicitors if you appoint professional trustees you lose all control not to mention potentially ongoing costs. I cannot see any benefit to you creating a trust. If you have no family to pass on your assets mirror wills leaving everything to each other on passing of last deceased they can pass to a charity or more of your choice would be simple. If a salesperson/ financial advisor has tried to sell you a trust before you commit to anything seek second opinions lots of firms are set up as unregulated wills writers that up sell trust without decent legal advice.

Dealing with a trust will be a massive hassle and expense for the charities. It may also be that whoever lives longer needs to downsize e.g. into a flat with a lift or closer to hospitals. Just leave them the house in your wills. Don't forget to do POA too.

If you are only in your 60s I think worth trying to make new friends (not just for this issue).