Trust Accounts

Trust accounts act as a record of a Trust’s assets and liabilities, and cash transactions. They are an essential part of proper trust management.

What are trust accounts?

Trust accounts, similar to estate accounts are a record of a trust’s assets and liabilities and cash transactions over time. They should also include a synopsis of the trust, detailing beneficiaries and general objectives.

Why do I need to keep trust accounts?

The primary purposes of a trust account are:

• Asset management: The trust accounts will provide a central and comprehensive record of all assets held by the trust, making it a lot easier to manage those assets. This is extremely useful when the trust fund is a broad mix of assets and where the trust is taxable.
• Transparency and accountability: A trustee is obliged to keep and provide details of the trust’s assets to its beneficiaries upon reasonable request. Maintaining clear and comprehensive accounts provides the trustees with the ability to remain transparent in their dealings with the beneficiaries reducing the risk of conflict and adverse allegations over conduct.
• Distribution of funds: The trust accounts serve as a record of cash transactions meaning not only can it show income and expenditure, which should be tracked and assessed as part of the trustees’ budgeting, it will show all of the distributions made by the trust to its beneficiaries. Again, this is useful for when there is a desire for parity or there were clear preferences expressed by the Settlor in a letter of wishes for distributions to be made in a certain way.

Do trust accounts need to be prepared by a solicitor?

Trustees have a legal obligation to maintain accurate trust accounts. They can be quite complex documents and it may well be better for trustees to delegate the task to a solicitor or accountant. Professional trustees, such as solicitors or trust companies, will always be expected to maintain trust accounts in execution of their fiduciary responsibilities.

Why choose Price Slater Gawne?

Our specialist team are experienced in setting up Trusts for clients in line with their personal circumstances. If you would like to speak to a member of the team, please contact 03333 058375 or email wealthprotection@psg-law.co.uk.