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I have already put our family home in a trust structure.And I intend to put all our cars home and contents into as well.My mother is very old and I do not want ruthless extended family making claims against our family estate.I am about to embark on re-writing my own will should I put all or part of my moneyinto it should I die ?Should I make provision for my mother from the family trust or the estate ?After distribution from my estate ?I am a resident for tax purposes in New Zealand and governed by New Zealand Law.Regards,John Vernon.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: New Zealand Already Tried: MY OWN FAMILY LAWYERS
Hi Welcome to JustAnswer. My first response will follow shortly. Please feel free to follow up if anything is not clear
Before answering I would need more information, do you have any children who may have a claim? Are you an only child or do you have siblings?
I am an only child, I have no immediate siblings.
My concern is my mothers well meaning but at times interfering friends of long standing.
I have the impression that they have a major person interest in my mother her welfare and possibly even her
assets.
Should read personal instand of person.
instand should read instead.
I also have concerns about my mothers carers one in particular
seems to show a person interest in everything we have in the house our personal family memorabilia
(which are quite historic)
Things from the second world war and the Japanese occupation of Singapore.
This odd person has broken and defaced a number of small items in the home.
It is important to note that if it had been my sole decision she would not be working here.
My mother has her view and is a highly qualified Physiotherapist.
She feels pity and compassion for this person whose whole life seems to be improperly constructed.
She lives on a benefit is a smoker drinker and gambles.
Her partner an IT specialist is the same.
We can only see financial difficulties and problems for the two of them in the future.
They have taken on a $179,000.00 Mortgage and they have purchased a car on hire purchase.
You can leave your estate to whoever you choose. The Family Protection Act says that claimants are descendants of yours and if you have none then it would be difficult to challenge your will. If you want to place your belongings in trust there should be a good reason for doing this, as there can be a loss of control of the asset. It you place items in trust, then the trustee will need to make independent decisions about the items, which may not be the same as your needs. And, if you operate the trust as your own property then it may fail as a trust because it would be seen as being you, and not as a trust. There can be good reasons for placing your own proiperty in trust but you do need to consider why you are doing this.
As for your mothers property, if she does not have a property guardian in case she becomes incapable, then you should organise this, together with a review of her will.
If the property you are talking about as your family property, is the property your mother lives in, then settling this on trust takes it out of her estate into the trust. This means no one can claim after she dies, as the trustee will continue to administer the trust.
As for making provision for your mother if you die before her, ythere are options such as giving her a life interest. But if all your assets are in trust then they pass according to what the trust says. If you intend giving all your estate to the trust, then your estate has nothing and there is no need to provide for your mother from your will and estate.
Clearly it may complicate matters if I place our belongings in a trust.
I have placed the house in a trust to protect it.
Which I am sure you would think is perfectly fine.
As to my monetary assets that it another matter.
Tax I believe is paid at a higher rate of 30%.
However if I die then I can leave what I wish to in my will.
Perhaps a proportion can go into the trust to maintain the home and it's expenses.
The concept of transferring our belongings into a trust was to distance
our ownership of those items and subsequently make it more difficult for others
to claim those items.
My principle concern was carers and nursing staff dealing with my mother.
Do you follow my line of thinking ?
The best protection is an enduring power of attorney for your mother so that the carers and others have to talk to you about property issues, if your mother is not capable due to her age. You can put the personal items into a trust if you want, but it would be hard to show this interest, because unlike the house, where the title will show it is owned by the trustees, there is no system of titles to personal property which would show the ownership. Is your concern that you would die before your mother? If that is the case then the trust either needs funds for maintenance etc, or you could leave the cah assets to the trust for this purpose. Ultimately you will need to consider what happens to the trust property if your mother dies before you, or what happens to the property after both of you are dead.
Thanks for your clarification I already have an enduring Power of Attorney.
So it seems I have the protections I need including the house in trust.
I do however need to put some monies into the trust to manage the outgoings should anything happen to me.
(Outgoings of the house that is).
Experience: LLB MMgt FAMINZ 32 years qualified as lawyer