Trust wills 'to avoid time-consuming estate administration'

Trust wills could make it quicker and easier for payments to be made on a testament, it has been claimed.

Citywire.co.uk reports without a trustee, grant of probate must be sought before an estate can be divided as its owner intended, meaning trust wills can speed up the process and may make a difficult time easier for friends and family.

Such an approach to making a will could also help individuals mitigate the costs of inheritance tax, as the proceeds of policies written in trust are not included in the settler's estate and so do not fall under the levy.

Recent changes to pensions tax relief mean the annual allowance for tax-privileged retirement saving has been significantly reduced, down to £50,000 from a previous maximum of £255,000.

The lifetime allowance has also been dropped to £1.5 million from £1.8 million as of April 2011, a move the government hopes will raise revenues of £4 billion per annum.

With this in mind, individuals may wish to consider trust wills as a way to safeguard assets for future generations.