The certainties of trusts

AFTER THE FIASCO of the changes to the inheritance tax rules for trusts earlier this year an article about the certainties of trusts might seem like a bad joke. However the 'certainties' are the legal ingredients that are necessary for a valid trust to exist.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the changes announced by the Chancellor on 22 March 2006 and the subsequent policy realignment were the result of a fundamental ignorance among Treasury ministers and officials about the nature of trusts. As readers of Taxation will know trusts are more often than not used for non-tax reasons although this fact seems to be lost on Government spokespeople and on certain parts of the popular press. Furthermore while many arrangements can be clearly seen to be trusts there are many arrangements which are also trusts though their status as such will not be...