I always assumed a trust was a kind of tax dodge, but it seems in some instances you can end up paying lots of tax via a trust which would be totally avoided if the assets were just gifted 7 years prior to death.

If person A puts £1m into a trust for their kids. They then die, the 2 kids get £500k each. But if they want to remove some of that cash to spend, they have to pay up to 45% tax on it. It’s treated as regular income for the kids.

But person A already paid tax on that cash before they put it into the trust.

It’s a classic case of government double taxation.

I can’t see the benefit of a trust for one’s children, other than in a situation like Wiley has where you want to gift the assets but not allow them to be spent, yet/ever.