Wills and Trusts service

Mencap Trust Company manages trust funds for people with a learning disability, investing and protecting the money in a way that’s right for each family. They really get to know families and what a happy life looks like for their loved one – making the money available for the things they want and need. A not-for-profit, they offer low fees with no hidden costs. 

Mencap Trust Company has been working with families for nearly 50 years – find out how they can support yours.

In this situation the rules of intestacy will apply.

This means the government will be responsible for how your estate is distributed.

This may result in your wishes not being met. 

Leaving gifts outright can cause a number of problems for someone with a learning disability. Means tested benefits and support packages funded by the local authorities may be cut, leading to the inheritance being used to pay for these services until it runs out.

A new application for benefits or support packages will then have to be made with no guarantee they will receive what they were previously entitled to.

Inheriting a large amount of money, particularly at such an emotionally distressing time, can cause other problems. Your loved one may become susceptible to financial abuse from others or may lack the ability to deal with their new-found wealth.

Placing money in a Trust is a safer way to provide ongoing stability for your child. 

This is not advisable.

If a family member is left the money on behalf of your child, in the eyes of the  law  it is their money. This means that if they were to divorce, file for bankruptcy or manage their  finances  badly, the money would be classed as theirs and could potentially be lost.

Unfortunately, family  relationships  can also change over time and circumstances may change. 

Yes, this can be done, although it is strongly advised to leave the property within a Trust.

It is also advisable to leave additional funds for any maintenance and upkeep costs that may occur, as the chosen Trustees will be responsible for the upkeep of the maintenance of the property.

Families should think about how practical leaving a house to a child with a learning disability will be. It is always best to also think about the possibility of not being able to leave your house to your child. This could be because the child does not have the capacity to manage bills or rent. Other avenues should always be explored before you decide to leave a property to your child.

Your letter of wishes can state what you wish to happen to the property if it no longer becomes suitable for your loved one. 

A Trust looks after savings, property, investments and other possessions. It can be used straight away for the named persons, or they can access it once you pass away (dependant on how you have set up the Trust).

It is a formal transfer of assets (for example property, shares, cash) to other persons, who are known as ‘Trustees’ to hold on the terms that are set out by the person making the Trust.

A Trust offers more protection than only writing a Will, because Trustees have control over the Trust fund, not the person with a learning disability. Setting up a Trust is highly specialised and should only be handled by a qualified legal professional or Trust company with experience in this area. 

We cover Discretionary Trusts and Disabled Persons Trusts.  

A discretionary trust can be for a number of beneficiaries who would all benefit from the trust. It is flexible and can be changed to a disabled person’s trust if needed.  

A disabled person’s trust is specifically set up to benefit the ‘disabled person’. You can have other beneficiaries in the trust but no more than £3,000 or 3% of the value of the Trust Fund can be given to a person other than the disabled person each year.  

A Trust can either be created in your Will so that it only commences on your death, or it can be created in your lifetime and start immediately.

You can then leave a further sum of money to the Trust under the terms of your Will. Your solicitor will discuss this with you and advise you of all the options available to you. 

Anything can be put into the Trust – money and property are the most common.

These are then distributed as and when to beneficiaries of the Trust, which will include your child with a learning disability, by the Trustees.

The letter of wishes you will have written often acts as guidance for the Trustees. 

It is advisable to have a minimum of two Trustees per Trust. Their responsibilities include fully understanding the Trust Deed and following the terms of the Trust.

They must act personally, and all decisions must be unanimously agreed by the Trustees. Because the Trust only exists for the benefit of your child with a learning disability, every decision the Trustees make needs to be in the best interest of the beneficiary, and they are held accountable for any investments made.  

Over 50% of Mencap’s voluntary fundraised income comes from gifts in Wills and end-stop gifts from trusts.

These gifts allow us to be there for people with a learning disability and their families through every stage of their lives. They fund our Wills & Trusts Service, the free Planning for the Future webinars and advice that gives parents and carers crucial information to plan for the future of a loved one with a learning disability.

Without the kind people who support Mencap by leaving gifts in their Wills and Trusts, many of our services just wouldn’t be able to continue.

There are a number of ways to remember a charity. You could consider nominating Mencap as the final beneficiary of your Trust, after all other beneficiaries have passed away. After your loved one's lifetime, any funds left in your Trust would then go towards supporting Mencap's crucial work. Or you may prefer to include a gift to Mencap in your Will.

To make sure your kind gift reaches Mencap, please include our full name, address and charity number in your Will or Trust:

• Royal Mencap Society of 6 Cyrus Way, Peterborough, PE7 8HP.
• Charity Registration Number 222377

Yes.

Our guide to writing your Will is a downloadable Easy Read resource for people with a learning disability.

It can be daunting thinking about your child's financial future, but our Wills and Trusts service can help guide you.  

We run free online Planning for the Future webinars where we invite a legal professional to talk about the types of trusts available and the steps you need to take to set a trust up. We also have free Wills and Trusts guides and a list of STEP qualified (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) legal professionals we can send you when you are ready to start putting provisions in place.  

We would recommend signing up to one of our free webinars - this is a great starting point as the legal professional talks about the importance of writing a Will and setting up a trust, including what the implications could be if you do not have a trust set up. You can book your free place through our website.

Once you have been to a webinar, you can download our free Wills and Trusts guides - you are welcome to download them before attending but we do tend to find that people find the webinars very useful and then are more understanding of the guides when they read them. You can download our free guides here. 

You can contact the Wills and Trusts service - we can provide you with a list of specialist legal professionals in your area who are experts in trusts. They will be able to answer any questions you may have about the type of trust that is most suitable for your circumstances and how to set up a trust.  

Attending one of our Planning for the Future webinars would be very helpful too. These are online and completely free to attend. We invite a legal professional to speak about setting up trusts, the steps you need to take to protect the financial future of your loved one with a learning disability, and the types of trusts available. There is also a Q&A short session at the end of the presentation for any questions you may have.  

To book your free place please visit: www.mencap.org.uk/willsandtrusts. 

For a list of specialist legal professionals and any further information please email: willsandtrusts@mencap.org.uk.   

Having a discretionary trust for your child, if set up correctly, will not affect their means-tested benefits. This is because a trust is not set up in their name and therefore the assets in the trust do not belong to them.

You should set up a trust in your lifetime - meaning it is active now so you can add assets, or you can set up a trust in your Will – so it will become active when you pass away. A legal professional would be able to discuss the different options available to you.

We have free Wills and Trusts guides you can download on our website : mencap.org.uk/willsandtrusts. You may find our 'Wills and Trusts' guide and 'Guide to being a Trustee' useful.

We also run free Planning for the Future webinars - we invite a legal professional to come along to discuss the different types of trusts available as well as steps needed to put in place to ensure the financial future of your child is protected. 

You can book your free place at: www.mencap.org.uk/willsandtrusts.   

Sadly we are fully aware the amount of banks offering trust accounts is diminishing and we will be doing our very best to raise awareness of this issue as we know how important trust accounts are to families when setting up financial provisions for your loved one.

The legal professionals we work closely alongside always suggest to ask your own bank first just in case they can help. Otherwise the banks and building societies we’re aware of that currently set up trust accounts are as follows:

• Metro Bank
• Skipton Building Society
• Carter Allen Private Bank  

Please make sure you call them first to see if they offer this service or not - you will need to explain it is for a trust fund for a person with a learning disability.

You could also contact Mencap Trust Company, who manage trust funds for people with a learning disability, investing and protecting the money in a way that’s right for each family. They really get to know families and what a happy life looks like for their loved one – making the money available for the things they want and need. A not-for-profit, they offer low fees with no hidden costs. Mencap Trust Company has been working with families for nearly 50 years – find out how they can support yours on their website.

Because Mencap Trust Company act as trustee for a number of trusts they have developed a long-standing partnership with an investment management company that open accounts for individual trusts. This avoids the need to find a bank willing to open an account for each individual trust.

It's good to hear you have already set up financial provisions for your child. We recommend you speak with a specialist legal professional and ask them to review your Will to ensure the discretionary trust is set up correctly as it was written some time ago. They will also be able to review if a discretionary trust is the right trust for your son.

You can either speak to the solicitor who originally set up the trust to review, or we can send you a list of specialist legal professionals who are qualified in this area of law. If you would like this list please email us on www.willsandtrusts@mencap.org.uk and state which county you would like the list for.

Your choice of trustee is completely up to you. You would need to speak to a legal professional to see if they would be a trustee alongside your son. Trust companies, such as Mencap Trust Company, act as sole trustee meaning they take on the full responsibility of the trust. 

If you would like further information about Mencap Trust Company please visit www.mencaptrust.org.uk. 

You will need to speak to a legal professional to check you have the correct trust set up for your child. They will be able to advise the difference between the two and the criteria needed to be met to be able to set up a Disabled Persons Trust.

If the trust is purchasing a property, the trustees are completely responsible. They will need to decide how the property will be paid for, maintained and looked after. If someone will be living in the property, the trustees will be responsible for how that person will live in that property.  

It would be advisable to speak with the solicitor you set the trust up with, how this can be done, and perhaps the clauses you will need to include to reflect this.

Mencap also have a very useful guide called 'Guide to being a trustee' which covers in detail, the exact responsibilities of trustees. The guides can be downloaded for free through our website.