Lawyers for Declaration of Trust
Expert Legal Advice for Declaration of Trust
Deed of Trust Legal Services
The basics of English and Welsh trust law is that ‘trustees’ hold something (e.g. land) for the benefit of someone else, called the “Beneficiaries” of the trust.
In English & Welsh law, land is always held by more than one person as joint legal tenants.
The rule of “Survivorship” applies to joint legal ownership – that is, the legal interest of each joint tenant is extinguished on their death, leaving the surviving joint tenants in charge of the whole of the remainder.
Because of the survivorship principle of legal ownership, whenever land is owned by more than one person who does not intend their co-owners to take their interest on their death (for a married couple, for example, survivorship is often precisely the mutual intention), then that land should always be held subject to a trust noted on the official title – be that trust to protect the owner’s individual interests as tenants in common in equal shares, tenants in common in unequal shares, or for more complicated trust interests such as arising in a trading partnership or similar ownership arrangements.
The interests of ownership of the land can have various implications, e.g. tax. This product is often procured by couples wishing to re-allocate rental income between them toward the member who pays the relatively lower rate of tax, i.e. to save tax, overall.
The product comprises drafting the simple terms of the property trust on which the property is held, and registering a note of that at HM Land Registry, to protect the beneficial interest.
‘Simple’, in this case, means that the Trustees and Beneficiaries are the same, and that the trust contains fixed shares that do not have any mathematical variations in time. We have a different (more costly) product for more sophisticated trusts, including any:
- under which the relevant shares of Trustees / Beneficiaries may vary in time; or
- where there may be differences between the class of trustees and the class of beneficiaries [and which trusts are therefore registrable with HMRC]
How long will it take?
We don’t generally do anything for new clients until our process of client retention has concluded – this involves agreeing the scope of what we are doing for the price (our terms are below), setting-up our client record, and producing the bill (payment in advance is required for all new clients).
After that, the production of the trust is a job that we can undertake in hours, once we can schedule it in our workflow, that can depend on how busy we are at any particular time. We would not usually take-on a job for which we could not engage within about a working week.
A completed trust will then need to be submitted to HM Land Registry for registration. The time HM Land Registry take to process such a registration varies greatly, depending on how busy they are. Some applications are processed very quickly, up to “next day”; however, most applications appear to languish awaiting HM Land Registry attention; in 2021 many applications were taking about 6 months to be registered – and some types of application can take even longer than that, unfortunately. However, once submitted HM Land Registry process applications on any title in order of submission – so their delay ought not to affect the priority of your application relative to other matters on that title.
Money Matters
Secure your financial share with our dedicated service for drafting and registering a Declaration of Trust. This service is for taking your instructions and then drafting a suitable trust deed based on those, seeing to its execution, and registering it with HM Land Registry. It does not include any HM Land Registry registration fee – we will advise if you also have to pay these – nor does it include registration of the trust with HM Revenue & Customs if that is necessary – we will advise; we have another fixed-price product for that work.
Declaration of Trust (£425)
Our Declaration of Trust serviced handles the entire process of formalising property interests, from taking your initial instructions and drafting a bespoke deed to overseeing its execution and managing the registration at HM Land Registry.Please note that our professional fee (plus VAT) does not include mandatory Land Registry disbursements, which we will confirm with you based on your specific requirements. Additionally, while this service focuses on the deed and property title, it does not cover registration with the HMRC Trust Registration Service; if that becomes necessary, we will advise you accordingly and can provide a separate fixed-price solution for that work.
Your supplier is SRA-regulated Mounteney Solicitors, that charges VAT some customers may be able to reclaim.
There is more info about our fees here
If you have any questions, require any further information, or would like to engage us on the T&Cs linked Our Terms in the footer below, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.
Contact our Declaration of Trust Solicitors
If you need clear, professional guidance on setting up a Declaration of Trust or have questions about protecting your share in a jointly owned property, our experienced team is here to help. At Mounteney, our Land & Title Solicitors provide practical legal advice and a friendly, responsive service to give you peace of mind and safeguard your interests. We also offer a combined product (30% off) for property trust restructure that includes removal of current trust restriction from title and trust declaration.
As a leading firm of solicitors in Stockport, we understand that every property and every ownership arrangement is unique, so we take the time to listen and tailor our advice to your circumstances. Our trusted solicitors handle your matter efficiently and keep you informed every step of the way.
You can reach us by phone or visit one of our offices in Bramhall, Cheadle, Hazel Grove or Heald Green. We assist clients throughout Stockport, Manchester and Cheshire, including Altrincham, Wilmslow, Knutsford and Didsbury. We also offer virtual appointments for your convenience wherever you are in England and Wales.
Contact Mounteney Solicitors today to arrange an initial discussion about your Declaration of Trust and secure the reassurance you deserve. We look forward to helping you protect what matters most.
Other Services
HMLR Fees
Second Trustee Service
Possessory Title Application
