About ProTrust Estate Planning

Estate Planning and Administration – Why come to us? What are our strengths?

We are passionate about Estate Planning and Administration, Trusts and Wills work and are specialists in this area.  We have over 25 years of practical experience in advising on Wills, trusts and estate planning.  We always aim to offer the highest standards of service and care and to go above and beyond the expectations of our clients.

Educating: For our clients, primarily there is a strong need for understanding of the options for using trusts within Will structures. Trusts still play a large role in protecting your estate to pass to your children or next beneficiaries and better protected from claims of 3rd parties. Many people still to this day do not fully appreciate the reasons for the use of Trusts as part of their Estate Planning. Thus, for the family or individual, a high degree of expertise is needed from the adviser at the outset. Having full and proper advice is essential.

Passion for the subject: If you are going to advise people and families in this area of the law, you must have the drive, passion and energy for spending time to educate people properly and fully as to all options that are available to them for their Wills. If the effort is not made to educate, clients are often none the wiser and in fact may proceed without realising there are better options available.

Caring: Estate planning is very important for people as it is the case of protecting and passing a lifetime’s work in generating assets (as well as previous generations also). Some wills and estates practitioners simply do not dedicate the time and energy in providing full advice to clients. Likewise, an online will service will often not provide the level of care needed. Beware of advisers who simply ‘take instructions’ without going into detail as to options. Likewise, it is important that Wills and Trusts are reviewed regularly with clients to ensure they retain enough knowledge of what they have put in place to still be confident and comfortable.

Skill at drafting: Many poorly drafted Wills, Trusts and documents often stem from using out of date precedents that include provisions which the drafter does not fully understand. We are genuinely concerned about a lack of care and attention given by many practitioners to the drafting process. A regular annual review would help to iron out issues in this regard but the importance of correct understanding in the initial drafting is essential and we are passionate about the importance of excellent drafting.

Transparency on fees: We publish our firm’s costs on our website and are fully transparent in our charges.

Why is experience key?

Our experience is that it is difficult to find advisers who are both expert trust and wills practitioners and who care enough to put in the time with their clients and to educate them sufficiently to understand all the aspects required to make informed choices. Experience is absolutely key. If you are a person seeking advice, do not settle for inexperience. Likewise, estate planning is an evolving entity (both in family circumstances, taxation and law). Having continuity of reviews with the family, and refreshing memories of the ideas and planning concepts is very important.

The need is there to provide a different approach and that approach can only properly be provided by a firm that specialises in Estate planning work and who plants this fully at the forefront of its thinking.

Trusts for Everyone?

Trusts and estate planning are not just for the privileged and wealthy. No matter your background and wealth, it will often be just as important to protect the estate that you (and your parents/relations) have built over the years and to pass this on to your chosen beneficiaries in the most effective way free from outside attack. Trusts with Wills can be important for people of all circumstances;

We act for

• Parents with children of the marriage;
• Parents with step children;
• Families of wealth who have Inheritance tax concerns;
• Those with businesses to pass on;
• People with very little in terms of assets but wish to ensure their assets are protected;
• Individuals who are divorced or with children from other relationships;
• People whose beneficiaries have disabilities, or who are struggling financially or going through possible divorce or insolvency.
• People wishing to benefit charities;

We have life experience of the ups and downs in work, life, business and family circumstances. Understanding and empathy is at the forefront when discussing matters of Estate Planning. We understand the motives and reasons for anyone wishing to protect what they have built up so that is passed on for their families or chosen beneficiaries.

Why is there a need for continuity?

Wills and Trusts arrangements should be reviewed on a periodic basis and ideally with someone who has advised them previously and helped them to shape Wills and other estate planning documents. We retain our client’s files and information digitally to help us to help you in easy review with you over the longer term. Estate planning is nearly always than a one-off Will document; so it is beneficial to know, trust and understand each other and to provide you continuity.

How do we work alongside your other professional advisers?

It takes experience to understand and get to know the best professional advisors. Those can be lawyers (including property solicitors, barristers, family lawyers, or other specialisations and facets of mainstream practice) as well as accountants, financial advisors, surveyors, insurers, and estate agents. Our knowledge and experience as to how those other advisors operate can be just as useful to you as the work that we are ourselves doing for you. For example, it can be helpful to you us knowing the following:

• how the advisor charges;
• their capacity to act swiftly or efficiently at a given time;
• their approach and ethos;
• how they take instructions and hold meetings;
• the extent to which their services are best suited to you;
• and primarily, the extent to which they could bring you extra value through providing their services.

Understanding these elements is an important by-product of our role of being your Estate Planner advisors.