Cash in trust or invest in property?

[Trustif]

I'm lead trustee of a trust. It's my dad's cash and his will stipulates his money should be held in trust giving my mum the interest as income. I really want to give my mum as much income as possible.

But the interest on trust accounts is terrible though - 0.2%! As far as I can see, we can't put the cash into a higher earning account but we could invest it in property. Part of me thinks that BTL is a pain in the arse but with no mortgage costs, surely BTL will be more profitable?

is it just too much hassle or should we do it to give my mum an income?

In case it's not clear, my dad's dead.

How much money is in the trust?

At the moment £325k as advised by probate solicitor as that's the tax free limit but we have about £500k ish in total. So not millions!

Would you consider investing into an income-producing share portfolio?

Well, i went down that root and so far (2years in) i am 10% down on a so called low to med risk investment.

Where as a cash BTL would have generated a 6% return and over time, capital increase too.

I ve yet to access several smaller DC pensions and they ve all fallen in value too, across many different companies.

Yes, absolutely. If that is allowed.

@Trustif Yes, it is allowed.

It would be worth your while to have a conversation with a financial adviser who is also a member of STEP (Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners). They will help you understand your duties and responsibilities as a trustee and give you a steer as to the different types of asset the trust could hold.

Thank you, that's really helpful.

Why is the interest so low when it is going up everywhere?

I don't know. There are very few banks which still do trust bank accounts and they all have similarly terrible rates. It's really frustrating