A bereaved minor trust: what is it, how does it work?

This is a trust parents can set up in their Will leaving property to their children on attaining the age of 18. Grandparents cannot set up this type of trust for their grandchildren.

Trustees can advance capital and pay income to the child and if there is more than one child the distribution may not necessarily be equal, thus meeting each child’s personal needs.

There are no inheritance tax charges, however this type of trust offers limited flexibility in that children must receive their capital by the age of 18. As this type of trust occurs also by law if a parent dies without a Will, the question to ask is would you like your child or children to receive large sums of capital at that young age?