My 85-year-old father and I decided to make new wills with Jones Whyte in 2022.
The woman handling our case insisted we should have a family protection trust fund for his home, suggesting that it was a must in case he went into a nursing home – which has never been the intention.
We agreed under stress and paid £2,566, not understanding the full implications and the fact the house which my dad wants me to inherit was signed over to the trustees – Jones Whyte – irrevocably.
When we asked for the trust to be dissolved, Jones Whyte came back to say this would cost at least £3,000 plus VAT. We don’t think this is fair.
Please help.
R.M., Glasgow.
Pointless: A reader’s father was sold a family protection trust fund for his home, despite the fact the house was signed over to the trustees – Jones Whyte – irrevocably
Sally Hamilton replies: You and your father were clearly convinced that the family house could be protected from being sold to meet care bills. This landed him with a £2,566 bill and a product you didn’t need or want.
A trust is a legal structure where trustees – in your case, solicitors – are appointed to control the contents for the benefit of the person it is set up for.
This means a property cannot be sold without the trustees’ consent, for example.
There is a chance that the authorities will overlook a property held in a family protection trust when assessing liability for care bills.
But it should have been made clearer to you that there is also a high risk that they will not.
Many local authorities do not take kindly to trusts if they believe they were arranged to hide assets – known in legal parlance as the ‘deliberate deprivation of assets’.
Such trusts are tempting because the law says people must pay all their own care home costs if they have assets of £23,250 or more in England and Northern Ireland, £35,000 in Scotland or £50,000 in Wales.
Emily Deane, technical counsel at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, told me: ‘Using a trust to prevent paying care home fees is not a risk worth taking.
If a local authority decides that you have deliberately reduced your assets to avoid paying for care home fees, they may still include the value of the property you no longer have when they do the financial assessment.’
Such trusts are often used to potentially reduce inheritance tax (IHT) bills if the value of someone’s estate on death is otherwise likely to exceed the threshold.
Currently, it is possible to bequeath up to £325,000 without incurring IHT – and if passing a house down to a child or grandchild on death, there is an extra allowance of £175,000.
This means your dad’s estate would have to exceed £500,000 before any tax was due. At the time his trust was implemented, he was 82 and his home was worth £230,000.
You believe it has barely changed in value in the three years since. Your dad could simply leave the house in his will with no IHT due.
You asked Jones Whyte to unwind the trust. But you were shocked to be told this would cost £3,000 plus VAT and a fee for reviewing the trust.
I felt you had a good case so asked Jones Whyte to put you back in the position you were in before setting up the trust without stumping up any more cash. You wanted me to negotiate with them on your behalf, but Jones Whyte declined.
As you were nervous, a friend accompanied you to a meeting and took notes. Discussions went well and the firm agreed to wind up the trust – at no charge.
Your father’s house is now back in his own name and you are planning to make some modifications to the property to make his life easier. You were grateful for my intervention.
A spokesman for Jones Whyte says: ‘While we cannot comment on the specific details of any particular client matter, we are pleased to have been able to resolve [this client’s] concerns to their satisfaction, both constructively and respectfully at all times.’
BA won’t help with our insurance claim
We booked British Airways flights to Washington DC last June costing £4,574. At the beginning of that month my husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
He notified the insurance company, Staysure – but more than nine months later we are still waiting to be paid.
The sticking point is BA, which needs to provide a document proving we didn’t fly on the date booked or at a later date.
My husband has filled in form after form but gets nowhere. Please help.
K.G., Sandhurst.
Sally Hamilton replies: I was sad to read that your holiday plans to visit your three grandchildren had been thrown up in the air due to your husband’s shock diagnosis. I was sadder still to learn of the extreme headwinds he’s faced getting his money back.
Travel insurers need to receive official cancellation documents to process a claim – for audit, record-keeping and fraud prevention.
The only money sent so far was £463 in refunded air passenger duty. Airlines by law must reimburse this cost if passengers don’t fly.
Your husband contacted BA on its chat service and by phone almost weekly once he had recovered from his cancer operation, but to no avail. He even drove to Heathrow to try to find a BA employee who could help.
I was horrified by the lengths he had been forced to go to in his condition, so I stepped in on your behalf, first asking BA to get its act together.
I am pleased to say BA issued the missing document the same day and apologised for your experience.
Staysure escalated the case to its underwriters who agreed to settle immediately due to the exceptional circumstances.
Within two days you had received £3,931 in your account – your booking cost minus the refunded airport taxes and the insurance excess of £180.
Your husband told me there were no words to express his relief and thanked me for my intervention. I wish you both the very best.
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected] — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
