Collas Crill Explains... Reserved Powers

This is part of a series of guides in which we examine areas of law that frequently arise in practice. Further guides will be released weekly; click here to subscribe to receive Collas Crill news and insights by email.

Why have reserved powers?

Settlors can sometimes be uncomfortable to part with their hard earned cash or give up the day-to-day management of a company that is to be held in a trust. Therefore many settlors wish to retain a level of control over assets that they transfer to a trustee to be held on trust.

These controls are what we refer to as 'reserved powers'. Settlors can deploy them to assist in achieving their wealth planning objectives and to assist in allaying any fears that they may have once their assets have been transferred to their trustee to be held on trust.