Family Investment Companies

In recent years the planning armoury long served by Trusts has been supplemented by the use of what are known as Family Investment Companies (FIC’s) which can perform some of the traditional roles of a trust with some valuable advantages. FIC’s stand prominently in our menu of planning options as a result. For more information, click here for an overview of the key features and benefits of Family Investment Companies.

Trusts (also known as “settlements”) are legal structures which have been with us for centuries and which play some hugely valuable roles in domestic and commercial life. Our planning work for clients uses Trusts intelligently, in a range of important ways which those clients enjoy – even typically after some early reticence where the concept of a Trust was, perhaps, somewhat alien initially, and they needed our clear outline of what the Trust is, what it does and what it will cost to maintain.

Trusts can be designed to come in many different forms for various different purposes, for example:

• • Minimisation of Inheritance Tax
  • Preservation of control over assets
  • Protection of those assets (from business creditors, from a bad marriage, etc..)
  • Will Planning
  • Income Tax management (see below)
  • Care Home costs management

A popular tax-managing trust vehicle is the “Grandparent’s” settlement, typically used to enable the reliefs and allowances of non-tax paying individuals to be accessed in extracting income which might otherwise be taxed at much higher marginal rates, on the parents of those children.

Which is better – Family Investment Companies or family trust? 

This ultimately depends on personal circumstances, the value and nature of your estate and what you want your estate planning to achieve. Plus, of course, the current tax rules. We can provide you with up to date advice tailored to your specific situation to help ensure your assets are distributed as you wish, and tax-effectively.

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