Various statutes govern the exercise of trustee powers. For the purposes of this answer it is assumed that there are no special or unusual provisions or objects of the trust. In such circumstances the Trustee Act 1925 (TA 1925) and Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000) are likely to be the most relevant statutory provisions. Ordinarily, there will be no more than four trustees (TA 1925, s 34), and the trustees have a duty to make decisions which are consistent with the objects and powers of the trust. They must act in good faith and avoid conflicts of interest. Any decisions must be made on an informed basis, and the general rule in respect of private trusts (as opposed to, for example, charitable

The power to appoint trustees is contained in section 36 of the Trustee Act 1925 (TA 1925), which provides that: • the person with the power to appoint new trustees is the person specified in the trust instrument, or • the trustees Per Re Sheppard's Settlement Trusts Trusts [1888] WN 234 (not reported by LexisNexis®),

We have assumed that: • the settlor and trustees all reside in jurisdictions which do not prohibit individuals from being parties to a trust deed • it is intended that the trust deed in question will be governed for all

A lasting power of attorney (LPA) does not provide the attorneys with the power to exercise settlor powers on behalf of the donor who has lost capacity. However, this will not necessarily result in deadlock. The first question is whether the settlor/donor (P), in fact does have capacity to act, bearing in mind that capacity is: • presumed unless it is established that P does not have capacity, and • function-specific If P does not have capacity to appoint or remove a trustee, the next step will be to check whether there are alternative provisions in the trust instrument dealing with the appointment of new trustees and/or the removal of existing trustees in the event of the settlor's death or incapacity. If so, the trustees can be appointed

In answering this Q&A, we have been unable to find any authorities that would support the argument that the children occupy the property by virtue of their interest under the trust, rather than with the permission of their parents as tenants under the lease. Unless the circumstances indicate that the tenancy is subject to the rights of the children, it is likely that HMRC would deny principal private residence (PPR) relief. However, if the children occupy the property qua beneficiaries at some point during the period of ownership by

Shares in companies can be held on trust in the same way as real property, and the same legal principles broadly govern each. In this scenario, a declaration of trust in respect of the two adult beneficiaries and a separate declaration for the minor beneficiary, have been put in place. The declarations are silent as to what would or should happen to the shares on the death of a beneficiary. We have assumed for the purposes of this response that the trust instrument likewise is silent as to what should happen to the shares in this scenario.

This Q&A assumes that the trustees originally held the entire beneficial interest in the land on trust for a number of life tenants, with different remainder beneficiaries for each settled share, and the last surviving life tenant has now died. Generally speaking, where a beneficiary of trust becomes absolutely entitled to trust property as against the trustees (which would have the effect that the beneficiary has the exclusive right to direct how the property shall be dealt with), there is a deemed disposal by the trustees

In this Q&A we have assumed the following: • the partnership in question is a Scottish limited partnership • HMRC accepts that the US Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) which own the Scottish limited partnership (SLP) are opaque for UK tax purposes • the SLP is going to register under The Scottish Partnerships (Register of People with Significant Control) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/694 • the trust in question is not UK resident for UK tax purposes The key issue is whether, in any particular tax year, the trust is a ‘taxable relevant trust’. A taxable relevant trust is defined in The Money Laundering, Terrorist

The answer to this Q&A may turn on whether documentation evidencing the retirement of A, B and C and the appointment of E and F has been lost or never existed. It will also turn on who is entitled to appoint new trustees and whether that person is still capable of doing so. Another factor may well be whether there is documentation evidencing the appointment of G and if so whether that documentation recites the retirement of A, B and C and the appointment of E and F. It may also be significant to know whether all the beneficiaries of the trust are adult and capable of ratifying the actions taken by E and F. If there was original documentation but it has been

This Q&A assumes that there are no express provisions in the trust deed providing that adopted children should or should not form part of the class of beneficiaries. See Practice Note: The meaning of ‘children’ in Private Client, which explains the meaning of ‘children’ in various Private Client contexts, including in the drafting of Wills and trusts. As explained in the above Practice Note, the effect of an adoption order is that the adopted child is treated for all purposes in law as if they had been born to the adopters and have no other

In general, see Practice Note: Taxation of age 18–25 trusts—IHT. In answer to the question, when calculating the 18–25 exit charge only the element of the assets that qualify as an ’18–25’ trust is included in the calculation plus any 18–25 trusts created on the same day. This is because assets in an 18–25 trust are not strictly ‘relevant property’. For occasions of charge prior to

For the purposes of this Q&A, we have assumed that: • the trust is a discretionary trust and none of the trustees are resident in the UK • the trust has no property situated in the UK and has no income that arises in the UK • the UK-resident beneficiary has not transferred property to the trust, either directly or indirectly Income tax Under section 731 of the Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA 2007) income tax may be charged on any benefit which is received by the UK beneficiary and is not otherwise subject to income tax. Broadly, the issue of whether the UK resident can claim exemption or claim credit relief from UK