Excellent experience start to finish – always very responsive to any queries and the turnaround on the property I was buying was very quick, even in the busy time leading up to stamp duty deadline. Jenny was always very helpful and went above and beyond to close on a short timescale.
What is a PI Trust?
A personal injury trust is a legally binding arrangement, where funds are held by persons called trustees for the benefit of another or others upon the terms of a document called a trust deed.
Who should set one up?
They are designed for those people who have been awarded a large sum of compensation and who are entitled to means-tested state benefits.
Why is that?
If your compensation money and your total household savings are more than £16,000 then you are at risk of exceeding the threshold for claiming state benefits. You can protect your entitlement to state benefits by putting your compensation money into a PIT Trust. Any compensation money held in the PI Trust will not be included in the means-test and you will still be able to claim your normal state benefits.
What are the other advantages?
The compensation money will be held in trust purely for your benefit and the trustees are able to advance money to you at any time. We can explain to you how a PI Trust works, help you to choose the right trustees, set up the PI Trust for you and give advice about running the PI Trust. We can give you further reassurance by contacting the government on your behalf to explain that you compensation money should not be included in the means-test.
What happens if I die?
Whatever is left in the PI Trust upon your death will form part of your estate. The money will pass in accordance with your Will or under the intestacy rule (if you have no Will). It is therefore really important that you may sure your Will is up to date and deals with money held in the PI Trust.
For further information on PI Trusts, please contact Kate and she will be more than happy to talk you through the process.
