Trusts in Wills: The Main Types and When You Need One

What a trust in a will is

A trust is a way of leaving something so that some people look after it for others. The people who look after it are the trustees. The people who benefit are the beneficiaries.

A trust in your will only starts when you die. Until then, you own everything as normal, and you can change your will whenever you like.

When you die, your executors deal with your estate first. They then pass the trust's share to your trustees, who are often the same people. From then on, the trustees follow the rules your will sets out.

This guide explains the main kinds of trust in plain words. It is general information about the law in England and Wales, not advice on your own situation.

Why people use a trust

Leaving something outright is simple. The person receives it and can do what they like with it. A trust helps when that is not what you want, or not safe.

Common reasons include:

• a child would inherit, and children cannot hold an inheritance themselves
• you want flexibility, because you cannot know today what each person will need
• you want to provide for a partner but keep the capital for your children
• someone who will inherit is disabled or vulnerable, or receives means-tested benefits
• you want some protection if a beneficiary later divorces, gets into debt or is pressured by others

The main kinds of will trust

Age trusts for children

Each child's share is held until an age you choose. GetWill offers 18, 21 or 25. Before then, trustees can use the money for the child's upkeep and education.

Our guide to children inheriting at 18, 21 or 25 explains the choices and the tax.

Discretionary trusts

Your trustees decide who benefits, how much and when, from a group of people you name. A letter of wishes tells them what you would like, but it does not bind them.

Read more in Discretionary trusts in wills.

Life interest trusts

One person, often a partner, can live in a home or receive the income for the rest of their life. When they die, the capital passes to the people you chose, often your children.

These trusts are common in second marriages and blended families. Read more in Life interest trusts.

Trusts for a disabled or vulnerable person

A trust can provide for someone without the money counting as theirs. This can matter for means-tested benefits, and for anyone who could find a large sum hard to manage. Special tax rules can apply.

Read more in Trusts for a disabled or vulnerable beneficiary.

Two-year trusts

Your will leaves some or all of your estate on a discretionary trust for a short time. Within two years of your death, your trustees decide where it should go.

They can then take account of the tax rules and your family's needs at the time. For inheritance tax, what they decide is treated as if your will had said it.

Nil rate band trusts

These hold an amount up to the inheritance tax nil rate band on a discretionary trust, often for a partner and children. They were more common before unused allowances could pass between spouses and civil partners.

They are used less now, but can still help in some second marriages and some larger estates.

When a will does not need a trust

Many wills do not need one. A trust may add little if:

• you leave everything to your spouse or civil partner, and then to adult children
• the people inheriting are adults who can manage money and face no special risks
• your estate is modest and your family circumstances are settled

If your children could be under 18 when you die, your will should say how their share is held. An age trust is the usual answer.

Trusts also bring work. Trustees keep records, invest sensibly and may need to file tax returns for the trust. Some trusts pay inheritance tax charges while they last. A trust should be there for a reason, not by default.

Trusts and inheritance tax in outline

The figures here are for deaths in the 2026 to 2027 tax year.

• The nil rate band: each person can leave £325,000 before inheritance tax is due. The standard rate above that is 40%.
• The residence nil rate band: up to £175,000 more when your home passes to your children or grandchildren. It reduces by £1 for every £2 your estate is worth over £2 million.
• Frozen: both allowances and the taper threshold stay at these levels until 5 April 2031, under Finance Act 2026 section 72.
• Spouses and civil partners: what you leave them is exempt from inheritance tax. A life interest your will gives them is treated as theirs, so it is exempt too. The exemption is capped if you are a long-term UK resident and they are not.
• Your home in a trust: the residence nil rate band applies to a home left in trust only in set cases. These include an age trust for your own children ending by 25, and a life interest for a child or grandchild. A discretionary trust does not qualify, unless your trustees pass the home on to your direct descendants within two years. If the home is sold first, the position is more complex and needs advice.
• A life interest for your partner: this does not use your residence nil rate band. Instead, the unused allowance can pass to your spouse or civil partner, to be claimed when they die.
• Charges while a trust lasts: a discretionary trust is taxed as a trust in its own right. There can be a charge every ten years of up to 6%, and a charge when money leaves it.

Source: legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2026, section 72 (Rate bands etc for tax year 2030-31) (Latest available (revised) version), checked October 2026.

Source: GOV.UK, Rates and allowances: Inheritance Tax thresholds and interest rates (Updated 6 April 2026), checked October 2026.

When we checked on 14 October 2026, the GOV.UK rates table had not yet been updated for the extra year.

Source: HMRC, IHTM46014: Basic definitions: Inherited (Inheritance Tax Manual) (Updated 7 April 2026), checked October 2026.

Source: HMRC, IHTM46040: Transfer of unused RNRB: the brought-forward allowance (Inheritance Tax Manual) (Updated 7 April 2026), checked October 2026.

Source: HMRC, IHTM42081: Ten year anniversary: introduction (Inheritance Tax Manual), checked October 2026.

Recent and coming changes

• Where you have lived: since 6 April 2025, inheritance tax depends on long-term UK residence rather than domicile. If you or your partner have lived abroad, the rules for trusts and gifts between you can differ.
• Farms and businesses: since 6 April 2026, the 100% relief for business and farm property is limited to £2.5 million. Trusts have separate rules.
• Pensions: for deaths on or after 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits will count towards your estate for inheritance tax. Death in service benefits from a registered pension scheme are excluded.

These points can change the right kind of trust, so they are covered in a professional consultation.

Source: HMRC, IHTM47001: Long-term UK residence test: Introduction and when domicile will remain relevant (Inheritance Tax Manual) (Updated 7 April 2026), checked October 2026.

Source: legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2026, Schedule 12 (Agricultural property relief and business property relief) (Latest available (revised) version), checked October 2026.

Source: legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2026, section 71 (Commencement of sections 66 to 70) (Latest available (revised) version), checked October 2026.

Trusts and care fees

Some companies sell trusts set up during your lifetime as a way to protect your home from care fees. A trust in your will is different. It deals only with what you own when you die.

Our guide Can a trust protect your home from care fees? explains the rules honestly, including what a will trust can and cannot do.

How GetWill handles trusts

Part of the standard will service:

• an age trust for your own children, ending at 18, 21 or 25
• a discretionary trust for your children, ending by 25 at the latest, with a letter of wishes. It can include stepchildren you treat as your own.
• money held for another young person, such as a grandchild, until an age you choose. Our team collects the details with you.

Fifty Six Law reviews every will before it is finalised. For a children's discretionary trust, our team also checks the trust and its tax points with you. Your will starts with a professional consultation instead if your estate is over £1 million, or includes a business, a farm or assets abroad.

Needs a professional consultation first:

• a discretionary trust for a wider family, such as grandchildren or other relatives
• a two-year trust or a nil rate band trust
• a trust for a disabled or vulnerable beneficiary
• a life interest trust
• any trust where tax planning matters to the outcome

If you and your partner are making mirror wills, you stay on the mirror will service and our team contacts you about the trust. If either of you lives outside the UK, you start with a professional consultation instead.

The consultation is £150, including VAT. It includes a legal professional’s review of your circumstances and advice on the will you need. Afterwards we send you a written fee estimate for your will. If you go ahead, the £150 is deducted from that price.

What to do next

• Children's trusts: start your will
• A trust that needs advice first, such as a life interest or a wider family trust: start with a professional consultation
• Making mirror wills with your partner: start your mirror wills
• Read on: Discretionary trusts in wills, Life interest trusts, Trusts for a disabled or vulnerable beneficiary, Can a trust protect your home from care fees? and Children inheriting at 18, 21 or 25

Source: legislation.gov.uk, Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 144 (Distribution etc. from property settled by will) (Up to date with changes in force on or before 11 October 2026), checked October 2026.

Last checked against official sources on 14 October 2026.