Article Guide • Health & Welfare LPA
Do I Need a Health and Welfare LPA?
Many people assume their family would automatically be able to make health or care decisions for them.
In reality, being listened to is not always the same as having legal authority. This guide explains what a Health and Welfare LPA does, why it can matter at different stages of life, and when it may be worth putting one in place.
Reading time: 8–10 minutes
Property Protection Trusts
Protect your share of the family home while providing security for the person you leave behind
A Property Protection Trust can allow your spouse or partner to continue benefiting from your share of the home after your death, while helping to preserve that share for the people you ultimately want to inherit it.
Each arrangement is built around your property, your family and your wishes, including what rights the survivor should have and who should eventually receive your share.
Why someone might consider one
A Property Protection Trust can help you provide security for a surviving spouse or partner while also protecting your share of the family home for the future.
For many couples, leaving the home outright to the survivor is exactly what they want.
But you may also want greater certainty that your own share will eventually pass to your children or other people you have chosen.
This can be particularly important for blended families, where there are children from previous relationships, or where you are concerned about what could happen after remarriage or other changes in family circumstances.
How it works
A Property Protection Trust is written into your Will and normally takes effect when the first owner dies.
Instead of the deceased person's share of the home passing outright to the surviving spouse or partner, that share passes into the Property Protection Trust.
The survivor keeps their own share of the property and is given rights over the share held in trust, typically including the right to continue living in the home.
When the trust eventually comes to an end, the protected share can then pass to the beneficiaries chosen by the person who died.
The exact rights and arrangements will depend on the terms of the individual trust.
Andrew & Rosemary
Andrew and Rosemary are married and own their £400,000 home equally. They have two children, James and Sophie.
They want whichever of them survives to be able to continue living securely in the home, but they would also like their own share eventually to pass to James and Sophie.
Andrew dies first. Rosemary keeps her own 50% share, worth £200,000.
Andrew's 50% share passes into the Property Protection Trust created by his Will. Rosemary can continue living in the home under the terms of the trust.
When the trust eventually ends, Andrew's protected share can pass to James and Sophie.
If you decide to proceed
How we build the arrangement around you
A Property Protection Trust should reflect your property, family and wishes. Before anything is drafted, we work through the foundations and then build the trust around the outcome you want to achieve.
Step 1
Check the foundations
Before we draft anything
We first establish whether the proposed trust will work with your property and circumstances.
We will look at:
- how your home is currently owned;
- whether you own it as joint tenants or tenants in common;
- whether a severance of joint tenancy is required;
- your respective shares of the property;
- any mortgage, equity release or other secured borrowing;
- what you want the arrangement to achieve.
The purpose is to make sure the legal structure matches the outcome you actually want.
Step 2
Build your individual trust
Designing the arrangement around you
Once the foundations are clear, we can work through the details of your Property Protection Trust.
That includes:
- who should benefit from the trust;
- what rights the surviving spouse or partner should have;
- whether they should be able to move or downsize;
- who should act as trustees;
- who should ultimately inherit your share;
- when the trust should come to an end.
The trust provisions are then drafted into your Will and explained clearly before the Will is finalised.
Every Property Protection Trust is individual. The aim is not simply to insert a standard trust clause into your Will, but to create an arrangement that reflects your property, family and wishes.
Clear guidance before you decide
Not sure whether a Property Protection Trust is right for you?
You may know that you want to protect your share of the family home without yet knowing whether a Property Protection Trust is the right way to do it. We can talk through your circumstances, what you want to achieve and the options available before you decide whether to proceed.
Common questions
Property Protection Trusts explained
Clear answers to some of the questions people commonly ask when considering a Property Protection Trust as part of their Will.
What is a Property Protection Trust?
A Property Protection Trust is a trust written into your Will. It is designed to allow a surviving spouse or partner to continue benefiting from your share of the family home while protecting that share for the people you ultimately want to inherit it.
The trust would normally begin when you die. Your share of the property passes into the trust rather than being given outright to the survivor.
Does putting a Property Protection Trust in my Will affect my home now?
The Property Protection Trust itself does not normally take effect while you are alive. It is created through your Will and begins after your death.
You continue to own and use your property during your lifetime. However, we may need to look at how the property is legally owned to make sure your share can pass under your Will when the time comes.
Can my spouse or partner still live in the home?
Yes. Providing security for the surviving spouse or partner is normally one of the main purposes of the arrangement.
The trust can give the survivor the right to continue living in the property even though they do not own the deceased person's share outright.
The precise rights given to the survivor will depend on the terms of the individual trust.
Do we need to own the property as tenants in common?
For your share of the property to pass into a Property Protection Trust under your Will, that share needs to be capable of passing under the Will.
This will normally mean that the property is held as tenants in common, so that each owner has a separate share.
If you currently own the property as joint tenants, we can discuss whether a severance of the joint tenancy is required as part of putting the arrangement in place.
Can the survivor sell the house or move somewhere else?
A Property Protection Trust does not necessarily mean that the survivor must remain in the same property for the rest of their life.
The trust can be drafted to allow the property to be sold and, where appropriate, the trust's share of the proceeds used towards another home.
This can provide flexibility if the survivor later wants to move, downsize or live in a property that better suits their needs.
What do the trustees do?
The trustees are responsible for looking after the share of the property held in trust and administering it according to the terms of your Will.
Depending on the circumstances, they may need to be involved in decisions such as selling the property, purchasing a replacement home or dealing with the trust when it eventually comes to an end.
Choosing appropriate trustees is therefore an important part of putting the arrangement together.
Will a Property Protection Trust protect the home from care fees?
A Property Protection Trust should not be treated as a guarantee that care fees will never be payable.
Its primary purpose is to control what happens to the deceased person's share of the property and to balance the interests of the survivor with those of the eventual beneficiaries.
Care funding can depend on individual circumstances and the rules applying at the relevant time, so it is important not to choose this type of trust solely on the assumption that it will avoid future care costs.
Can I change the arrangement later?
Because the Property Protection Trust is contained within your Will, you can review your Will during your lifetime if your circumstances or wishes change.
This may be particularly important following changes involving your relationship, family, property or the people you have chosen as trustees or beneficiaries.
What happens when the trust eventually ends?
Your Will sets out when the trust should come to an end and who should then receive the protected share.
For Andrew and Rosemary, for example, Andrew's share could remain protected while Rosemary benefits from the home. When Andrew's trust eventually ends, his protected share can then pass to James and Sophie.
The exact ending provisions will be agreed as part of designing your individual trust.
What happens next if I would like to explore a Property Protection Trust?
We start by looking at how your property is owned and what you want the arrangement to achieve.
We can then work through the survivor's rights, your chosen beneficiaries, your trustees and what should happen to your share of the property in different circumstances.
If a Property Protection Trust is appropriate, the individual provisions can then be drafted into your Will and explained to you clearly before the Will is finalised.