Estate planning
Wealth Preservation Account
An investment bond written in trust from the outset, so the value sits outside the settlor’s estate after seven years while remaining accessible to beneficiaries at the trustees’ discretion.
Glendalough, Co. Wicklow · Superbass, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who it is for
Broker-introduced clients making lifetime gifts of capital
What it does
- Bond and discretionary trust executed together
- Beneficiary class can be varied by the trustees
- Segmented for assignment to beneficiaries
- Professional trustee service available from outset
The product in full
The Wealth Preservation Account is an investment bond and a discretionary trust executed as one transaction. That matters more than it sounds: a bond written first and settled into trust later is two events with two dates and two sets of consequences, whereas a bond written in trust from the outset has one date — the date of the gift — and the clock starts there.
Inside the trust the bond behaves as a bond: segmented up to 99 policies, invested across the available range, and administered as one contract. Outside it, the trustees hold a discretionary power over a class of beneficiaries, which means nobody has a fixed entitlement and the trustees can respond to circumstances that nobody foresaw when the trust was written — a divorce, a bankruptcy, a beneficiary who should not receive capital at 25.
Segmentation and discretion work together. Because the bond is segmented, the trustees can assign whole policies to a beneficiary rather than encashing and distributing cash, which moves the asset itself. Whether that is the right route in any particular case is a question for the trust’s own advisers.
Literature
Product literature is issued to appointed intermediaries. Ask your underwriter, or request it through the enquiry form.
- Trust deedOn request
- Key features documentOn request
- Trustee guideOn request
How it works
What happens, in order
From the first enquiry to the point the cover, the contract or the facility is in place.
The bond and the trust are executed together
One transaction, one date. The gift is the premium, and the seven-year clock runs from that date.
Trustees are appointed
The settlor’s own choice, or our Professional Trustee Service from outset. At least one trustee other than the settlor is the usual arrangement.
The bond is invested and segmented
Up to 99 policies, across the available fund range, held by the trustees.
The trustees exercise discretion
Over the beneficiary class, which they may vary within the terms of the deed. Decisions are minuted, because a discretionary power exercised without a record is hard to defend later.
Benefits are assigned or encashed
Whole segments assigned to a beneficiary, or encashed and distributed. The choice has consequences, and it belongs with the trust’s advisers.
The numbers
A worked example
Illustrative arithmetic, so the shape of the product is visible rather than described. Nothing here is a quotation or a projection.
A £400,000 settlement, and the seven-year clock
What the trust holds and what the estate holds, at the date of the gift. Illustrative arithmetic, not a tax computation.
- Premium settled into trust
- £400,000
- Date of gift
- The date the bond and trust are executed together
- Segments issued
- 99
- Value per segment at outset
- £4,040.40
- Settlor’s right to the trust fund
- None
- Held outside the estate after
- 7 years from the date of gift
- Trustee power over the fund
- Discretionary, over the beneficiary class
Illustrative, and not tax advice. The seven-year rule stated here is the general mechanism a discretionary settlement engages; how it applies to a particular settlor depends on their domicile, their earlier gifts and their circumstances, and that is a matter for their own advisers.
What the trust holds, and what the estate holds
The illustrative £400,000 settlement above, at the date of gift and after seven years.
View these figures as a table
| Held by the trustees | Held in the settlor’s estate | |
|---|---|---|
| Before the gift — All in the estate | £0k | £400k |
| At the date of gift — Held by trustees, clock running | £400k | £0k |
| After 7 years — Clock complete | £400k | £0k |
Suitability
Where the Wealth Preservation Account fits
The cases it answers, the cases it does not, and what an underwriter needs before quoting.
It is the right answer when
- A client making a lifetime gift of £50,000 or more who does not need the capital back.
- Cases where the beneficiaries should not have fixed entitlements — young, unmarried, or circumstances likely to change.
- Settlors who want a professional trustee from the outset rather than a family member for twenty years.
Look at something else when
- A client who may need the capital — the Gift and Loan Trust keeps it repayable.
- A client who needs an income from the gifted money — that is the Discounted Gift Trust.
- Someone whose objective is avoiding probate delay rather than reducing the estate — that is the Probate Trust.
What we need to quote
- 1.The settlor’s details, the premium and source of funds evidence.
- 2.The intended beneficiary class, and the trustees to be appointed.
- 3.Confirmation that the client has taken their own tax advice on the gift.
Questions
What brokers ask us about this product
Why execute the bond and the trust together?
Because it gives one date. A bond assigned into trust later is a separate transaction with its own consequences, and the sequence has to be right rather than convenient.
Can the settlor be a beneficiary?
No. Settlor access defeats the purpose of the settlement. A client who needs access should be looking at the Gift and Loan Trust or the Probate Trust instead.
Who registers the trust?
The trustees. We supply guidance on the registration requirements; the filing obligation is theirs, and the Professional Trustee Service coordinates it where we are appointed.
Request information
Ask us about the Wealth Preservation Account
The form reaches an underwriter in Dublin. If you are an intermediary, say so and we will route it to the broker desk.