Why The Protected Property Trust Is Becoming The Cornerstone Of UK Wills

Why the Protected Property Trust is now the cornerstone of Wills in the UK.

Our homes are the often the most emotive assets we own, and the Protected Property Trust (PPT) is now a very popular way to put a safety net around a person’s share.

Whilst it sounds complex, it can be easily incorporated into a Will and does not need to cost the earth. A PPT allows a homeowner to leave their share of a property, whilst granting the surviving spouse a ‘life interest’. This means your partner can live in the property for the rest of their life, but they do not technically ‘own’  your half. This share of the property is held in trust, waiting to be passed on to the chosen heirs.

Protection against ‘Sideways Disinheritance’

This is a common reason to opt for a PPT, especially as families are becoming more complex that ever. Should a spouse die, and at some point in the future, the surviving spouse remarries, your beneficiaries (usually your children) have no guarantee that their share of the property will eventually pass to them. If the surviving spouse dies before their new partner, then the share of the property that you wanted to pass to your children, could end up bypassing them completely.

The PPT makes this impossible, giving your children legal protection and a guarantee that your legacy passes on as you intended it to.

Safeguarding Assets from Care Fees

Current legislation in England means that if you have assets in excess of £23,250, you will usually be required to pay the full cost of any residential care that you need. Since your half of the property is held in the PPT, it generally cannot be seized to pay for care fees. This gives your children’s legacy, further protection.

Legal Protection for the Surviving Partner

It is a natural concern that putting the house in trust may leave the surviving partner vulnerable, but this is not the case. The PPT would give the surviving partner the ‘Right to Occupy’, giving them a legal right to live in the home for the remainder of their life. They will also have the right to move, should they wish to. This gives them financial peace of mind.

To set up a PPT, the property needs to be owned as ‘Tenants in Common’ as opposed to ‘Joint Tenants’. This means each owner owns a specific share (usually 50%) of the property, which allows you to ‘gift’ your share into the trust via your Will.

Is a PPT right for you?

If you own a home jointly and want to ensure that your children are looked after, without leaving your partner in a difficult position, a Protected Property Trust is one of the most robust tools available. It provides a level of certainty that a standard “everything to my spouse” Will simply cannot match.

Derrick Howard
Assured Wills (Kent) Ltd
[email protected]