Registering a Trust with HMRC

[Lazydaiz]

I’m really hoping someone can give me some advice. My mother passed away a few weeks ago and I am acting as executor of her estate. I have successfully applied for and been granted probate. Under the terms of her will, my mum’s share of the marital home is left in trust to myself and my two siblings, with her husband having the right to live there for the rest of his life. I have instructed a solicitor to carry out the necessary work to set up the trust and amend the deeds of the property with the Land Registry as I wasn’t confident to do this. I have now been advised that I will need to register the trust with HMRC, and have been quoted for the work by the solicitor. However, there are insufficient funds in the estate to cover these expenses so I am hoping to register the trust myself. Looking on HMRC, I am unsure as to whether the person with the lifetime interest in the house is the “beneficiary” of the trust, or would myself and my siblings be classed as the beneficiaries, seeing as we will eventually inherit? Hoping someone has done all this successfully and can point me in the right direction! Many thanks in advance.

If you are registering the trust, remember you need to set up your government gateway account as an organisation and not an individual.

I can’t remember exactly what questions are on the form (I could check one when I log on tomorrow!) but I would hazard a guess that your mums husband is the beneficiary with a 100% interest in possession over the trusts assets.

Thank you - much appreciated!

I did the trust myself and it was really easy. It actually guided you through each step and specifies which each part means so you can’t really mess it up. Particularly if it’s just property and you’re not dealing with a business with changing profits etc.