Creation and Administration of Trusts

Trusts have long been a feature of succession planning, providing a vehicle to carefully manage the succession of your assets. Our expert solicitors have considerable experience when it comes to setting up and administering trusts and can act as professional trustees if required.

Meet the team

How can a trust help me?

A well administered, correctly structured trust can provide a number of advantages, for example, protecting family assets or vulnerable beneficiaries, deferring children’s inheritance until a specified age, allowing you or your chosen trustees to control the distribution of assets over time, structuring the succession of your assets in a tax efficient way and/or making charitable donations.

Trusts are governed by complex tax regime and navigating this isn’t always easy, so our advisers will work with you and your other professional advisors to ensure the inheritance tax, capital gains tax and income tax implications are explained in plain, simple terms.

Whatever your circumstances and motivations, our private client solicitors will consider the range of options carefully and ensure that the right structure is put in place to meet your needs.

Our experience

Our expert knowledge of the complex and ever-changing legal and tax landscape governing trusts, combined with our approach to bespoke and client focussed solutions, enables us to advise on all aspects of the creation of trusts, the ongoing administration and ultimately, once the trusts’ purposes have been served, the winding up of settlements.

Our experience also extends to the creation and management of offshore trusts and the UK tax implications for those creating the trusts, the trustees and beneficiaries.

We also have a large dedicated trust management team who can assist with all aspects of trust compliance, including administering a significant number of trusts in house, liaising with investment managers reporting to HM Revenue & Customs and preparing trust accounts. In short, we aim to ensure that trustees are fully compliant and satisfy their trustee duties.

In particular, we can help individuals and trustees to:

  • Consider the use of trusts in the context of their wider succession and tax planning strategy
  • Create new trusts and prepare detailed letters of guidance to the trustees
  • Undertake a full review of ongoing and existing trusts and make appropriate recommendations
  • Administer the trust by acting as a professional trustee via our Trust Corporation
  • Appoint and retire trustees, including advice on indemnities
  • Deal with any trust dispute including issues with fellow trustees or beneficiaries
  • Amend the terms of any existing trusts, including dealing with the Variation of Trust claims
  • Understand the role and duties of a trustees
  • Ensure the trust is managed in a tax efficient manner
  • Bring the trust to an end
  • Consider the best means of providing for the trust beneficiaries, including the distribution or investment of trust assets and income and the making of loans, and ensuring those decisions are correctly recorded.
A guide to trusts

Our Private Wealth sector

For clients who have built a significant assets base, they may face a complex legal and tax landscape. Our experts from across our legal services are on hand to provide specialist legal guidance and support to help individuals, their families, trustees and family offices.

Services from our Private Wealth team

Legal updates and thought leadership

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Hear what our clients say about us

Newly hired partner Lisa Millington is recommended for trusts involving landed estates.

Legal 500 2025 Private Client – Cambridge

Led by Daniel Curtis, who frequently acts for clients with foreign property or who are domiciled abroad, the practice provides ‘personal service and a knowledge base that is second to none’.

Legal 500 2025 Private Client – Cambridge

HCR Law ‘is a powerhouse for family work in the Midlands’.

Legal 500 2025 Private Client – Hereford

The Legal 500 2025 said “HCR Law’s ‘highly professional’ (Private Client) practice ‘adopts a very professional approach but manages to combine it with a personal touch which is very much in evidence with the practical advice’” and that they are “a go-to name for inheritance tax planning advice and handles trust reorganisations and administrations at a domestic and global level”.

The Legal 500 2025 Private Client

Michelle Abbott immediately made us feel at ease straight away. She is very professional, friendly and extremely helpful. Michelle guided us through the process, providing clear and easy to understand information. In preparing and completing wills, her legal knowledge and attention to detail is excellent.

It’s been a pleasure dealing with both you and your company and I would not hesitate in using your services again or recommending you to family and friends. Thank you very much for all you have done for us

Client Testimonial Will Drafting

Good, clear advice always delivered in a considerate, and often kind manner, without delay or need for chasing. A pleasure to deal with.

Client Testimonial Will Dispute

Kerri is a pleasure to deal with. She provides very clear advice and is timely in her actions. She listens, understands and answers clearly. Her knowledge and her empathy have put us all at our ease in dealing with our matter.

Client Testimonial The Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2024

The Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2024 said: “Kerri Woodrow is very professional and businesslike.” and “Kerri’s service and client management is very good.”

Client Testimonial The Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2024

HCR has a good breadth of people and levels of experience.

Client Testimonial Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2024

Harrison Clark Rickerbys provide clear advice and are happy to answer our many questions. The responses are always very timely, and the language used in correspondence is accurate and understandable.

Client Testimonial Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2024

HCR are highly professional – they are experts, flexible, easily contactable and very responsive. They give fast replies and accurately too – it is a specialist service.

Client Testimonial Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2024

HCR are professional and focused on clear and pragmatic explanations without resorting to legalese. They offer clarity, timeliness, efficiency and professionalism.

Client Testimonial Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2024

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