Month: July 2017

Molatof!  More information on the Trusts Register

HMRC are now introducing an online registration process, in order both to streamline its function, as well as to comply with new anti-money-laundering legislation – called the Money Laundering Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 (Molatof, anyone?)

Trustees have an obligation to keep good records and accounts, not only for beneficiaries, but also for the Inland Revenue (HMRC).

Until recently, trustees did not have to supply details to the Inland Revenue of who was going to receive money from a trust – but this has changed.

Trustees have always been under an obligation to report income and gains, as well as reporting on the 10 year anniversary Inheritance Tax charge – if you are a trustee and you think you may not have failed to keep up to date, then your solicitor or accountant can help you keep on track, with a “trusts checkup”.

HMRC are now introducing an online registration process, in order both to streamline its function, as well as to comply with new anti-money-laundering legislation – called the Money Laundering Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 (Molatof, anyone?).  HMRC issued a newsletter about the upcoming changes in April – and suggested that the system would be online this month.  The Molatof regulations were published today, and it seems that it will be a few more weeks whilst HMRC tests the system to see whether it is working correctly.

The Molatof regulations mean that not only do trustees have to supply their details, but also they have to supply the names of beneficiaries and how they benefit – and in addition to their names, will also ask for National Insurance Numbers – and if a National Insurance Number is not available, addresses and passport details may be required.

HMRC have set themselves a deadline of the system going live by 5th October 2017 – for all trusts which have a tax consequence, information on the existence of the trust must be provided on or before 31 January 2018

What’s in a name?  A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Where you are signing a Lasting Power of Attorney there are even more specific instructions – and these apply not only to you, the person giving the power, but also to your attorneys and the witnesses.  This is one of the reasons why solicitors like to have the attorneys in the office to sign – because they can ensure everything is signed correctly, in the right place and in the right order.

What’s in a name?  A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

 

When you put your name to a legal document, it’s considered that you understood the effect of the document that you signed – if you sign it in your own solicitor’s office, it is presumed that you have asked for and received advice on what you are signing, and this forms part of the legal service that you have paid for.

Where you are signing a Lasting Power of Attorney there are even more specific instructions – and these apply not only to you, the person giving the power, but also to your attorneys and the witnesses.  This is one of the reasons why solicitors like to have the attorneys in the office to sign – because they can ensure everything is signed correctly, in the right place and in the right order.

The regulations are very strict on who can sign the document, how they sign it, and who can witness signatures, and in what order these can occur – and if the regulations are not followed, there is a high possibility that the document will be rejected as being invalid.

  • Your signature – this should be your usual signature – even if you do not use your full name or all your initials in your signature.
  • Your full name – this should be your full legal name – Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor (as an example).

If there is a space for your address (as there is for witnesses to both the donor’s signature and the attorney’s signatures) then your complete address, including postcode, must be inserted, legibly.  A failure to include an address, or with any part missing (including part of the postcode), could result in rejection by the Office of the Public Guardian.

The documents do state very clearly that the donor should sign first, and that their signature should be witnessed, before the certificate provider signs the document.  Each attorney should sign after the certificate provider has signed – it is acceptable for all to be signed on the same day, but not to be signed in any other order.