Trustees of property

[Lemon55]

Hello

Please can somebody explain how a will that contains a property trust works please? I am a trustee for a relative who has died and has left their 50% share of the property in trust for their adult children (living abroad). My relative’s husband still lives at the property. He is very unlikely to want to move house in the future, but will probably need to go into a care home at some point due to being very frail. I expect he will want the property sold if he does. What happens to the trust if the property is sold and what will be my responsibility with regards to this? The will says “my trustees shall hold my share on trust to sell it and to pay the income from it or from the property which currently represents it to my husband during the trust period” - I’m am not entirely sure what this means? Thank you if someone can explain please.

[Sam101]

The husband has a lifetime interest in the house, so need not move. The Trustees are responsible for seeing that the half left in Trust will eventually pass to the beneficiaries and the other half owned by the husband goes to whoever he states in his Will,

Should he have to go into care, the decision to sell the house is not up to the Local Authority as all they are interested in is making sure that the care home fees are paid. An agreement to pay when the house imn eventually sold is enough, so it is up to the family to decide whats best to do.

When the house is sold, the part in Trust remains for the beneficiaries, that is why a Trust was arranged, it safegusrds that value of half the property. The maximum that could go for care is the other half, although there is presently talk about maximums being allowed, which may or may not happen.

Although the Will says that the Trust will pay the income etc..... that is only if income is generated from the half value held in Trust.

Hopefully there is more than one Trustee appointed as if something happens to you alone, it can be very costly for the state to administer the Trust. If possible get family members to act as Trustees and if not in the Will, this can be changed to allow additional Trustees to be added.

What is the approximate value of the property?

Sam

[Lemon55]

Thanks for replying. There is another trustee but neither of us are beneficiaries. Your reply explains things very clearly. I have just looked at possible house value and I think about £200k on average when comparing on Rightmove. He don’t think he has a huge amount of savings which might mean he will need to sell his half of the house to fund the carehome if needed. Who ultimately makes the decision about what happens to the house - beneficiaries or trustees?

[Sam101]

Importantly, the two Trustees are both legally liable to administer the Trust, which was created automatically when the relative died. So you and the other Trustee need to be aware that it is your responsibility. Should care be needed, it is usually the beneficiaries who need to decide if the house needs selling or not. If not, then the Local Authority would need to make sure that their care costs can be met from the house sale at a later date.

If the property is sold, then one half is in Trust and managed by Trustees and that half is for the children fully. The other half (proceeds of the sale) needs to be dealt with by the executors appointed by the wife's Will. That can be carefully invested for the benefit of the husband until he dies.

I do hope that the husband has made a Will and that the children are the executors. Even from abroad they can instruct a firm to deal with the Probate following the husbands death.