Do you need a financial adviser for a trust?
Trust planning can involve both legal structure and investment decisions. Those are related jobs, but they are not the same job.
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What is the solicitor's role?
A solicitor can advise on the legal structure, drafting and administration issues around a trust. MoneyHelper points consumers to legal professionals when they need help setting one up.
What can a financial adviser do?
A regulated adviser may help trustees or families with investments, financial planning and how the trust fits the wider estate or family objectives, depending on the adviser's permissions and expertise.
What should you compare?
Use a specialist where the structure is complex
A generic investment adviser may not be the right fit for a complicated family trust. Ask directly about repeated trust experience.
Give each firm the same brief
Comparing a quote for trust investments with a quote for the whole family's finances can make the prices misleading. Before asking for costs, write down the decision the trustees need help with and the work already handled by a solicitor or accountant.
Establish whose decision is being made
Trust planning starts with the trust deed, its purpose, trustees, beneficiaries and relevant jurisdiction. Money held in trust is not simply a trustee's personal investment account. The terms and duties governing it need to be understood before an investment recommendation is made.
Ask a solicitor to clarify legal powers and obligations where necessary, and a tax professional to establish the applicable treatment and reporting. A financial adviser can assess investments within an agreed scope, but should work from confirmed legal and tax assumptions.
Identify who has authority to engage the adviser and approve decisions. Where several trustees must act, the process should account for their roles rather than rely on one informal instruction.
Translate the trust's purpose into an investment brief
Consider expected distributions, time horizon, liquidity and the potentially different interests of beneficiaries. A trust supporting regular payments has a different cash need from one intended to hold resources for much later use. The brief should explain those obligations before selecting investments.
For an illustrative trust, some beneficiaries may need current income while others have a future interest in capital. The trustees need appropriate advice on how the deed and duties apply; the investment discussion cannot resolve competing legal rights by itself.
Ask how the adviser will document assumptions and explain risks. A tax-efficient product is not automatically appropriate for the trust's purposes, access needs or permitted investments.
Agree monitoring, records and charges
Clarify who handles valuations, administration, tax returns, registration and investment reviews. Different professionals may charge separately. Request a combined view of costs and avoid assuming that an annual adviser fee covers legal or accounting work.
Keep trustee decisions, professional advice and implementation records together. Review the arrangement when beneficiaries' needs, trustees or material circumstances change. Identify who initiates that review.
Trust advice is a specialist service. Ask about experience with the relevant type of trust and verify the firm and individual responsible. A general inheritance adviser may need additional professional support rather than treating every trust as the same planning problem.
Sources and further reading
MoneyHelper - Guide to Inheritance Tax ↗
MoneyHelper - Choosing a financial adviser ↗
