Assets have to held by Trustees for children under 18. This age can be extended. The Trustees can be the same people as the Executors. The Trustees will have a different role. They will be responsible for holding the finances of the estate for the benefit of the minors while the Trust is in place. Two are required where property is in the estate. The Will is the document that creates the Trust, should both parents die with a child aged under 18. The Trustees may be the same people as your Executors and Guardians. The will creates a trust if any of the children are under the age of 18/20 on the death of the second spouse. Two Trustees must be appointed where there is a property in the estate. The assets are held by the Trustees on behalf of the minor child for the length of the trust. The Trust is set up in the Will itself. There is no separate Trust document. The Trust will come into effect if the circumstances arise, that is both parents die and a child is under the age of 18. The age at which the Trust ends can be increased in the Will. It is important to consider the tax implications that may arise if the Trust age goes beyond 21 years as Discretionary Tax may arise.

Guardians are appointed to have day to day custody and care of minor children. They can be the same people as the Trustees and Executors. Only one is required, but you may wish to appoint two.

The role of the Executor is to administer the Will. This will involve taking out a Grant of Probate and transferring assets into the name of the Trustees. On the death of both spouses, you will need to appoint at least one Executor. Appointing two is advisable. Choose trustworthy age-appropriate people as your Executors. There are no restrictions on who can be your Executor. It can be a family member who is also a beneficiary. The Executors do not need to be present when the Will is being signed. When a couple are making Wills, each person will appoint each other as their Executor and then the Will states that on the death of the second spouse, or they each die together, then there are other Executors appointed. Usually, Executor 1 is the other spouse or partner and Executors 2 and 3 are relatives. Therefore, you may be appointing three now in total, although all will not act together.

A will usually has two parts. The first part appoints each spouse or partner as the Executor of each other and gives everything to that spouse or partner. The Will usually has a second part, saying that on the death of the second spouse or partner the estate is given to the children in equal shares. There is no legal obligation on parents to leave everything equally to children. However, this is very common in this situation.

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