Leaving Assets To A Vulnerable Loved One?
In our Ask The Legal Expert column we get the latest specialist advice from JCP Solicitors. This month Sean Boucher, an Associate Solicitor, based in JCP’S Carmarthen office, discusses Trusts.
I want to make a Trust as part of my Will, allowing my sister to look after the interests of my son, who has some addiction problems, so he cannot deal with money well. He and my sister are close, but she feels she would need some support in this role. What would you suggest? This is a common scenario and a Trustee’s role involves quite a bit of responsibility, so it is a good idea to choose Trustees with different skills (often you would need to have at least two trustees) and bear in mind that your Solicitor can be one of those Trustees. I can understand why you would want a close family member to offer continuity and reassurance to your son but having a Solicitor in the mix might be a sound choice, since they would be impartial.
Having professional trustees can also help reduce the chance of clashes of opinion when the Trust is being administered, for example if you have a blended family. Clearly, it helps to have a legal professional on board too when you have to make decisions within a legal framework.
There’s no limit to the number of Trustees you can appoint, and it is sensible to think about the kind of expertise different people might bring to the table, but they need to be unanimous in their decision-making. So it is a good idea to choose trustees who can work well together.
Trusts come in many forms, and they can be used to protect money and other assets for beneficiaries under a variety of circumstances.
A Trust is simply a way of managing assets. The parties involved in a Trust are; The Settlor – the person who sets up the Trust by putting the money or property into the Trust, the Trustees, who are the people you entrust to look after that money or property, and the Beneficiaries, the person or people who you wish to benefit from that money or property
Trusts can be useful for a number of scenarios. They can be used to protect vulnerable beneficiaries, and it may be that the Beneficiary will never be able to manage their own finances. In this case we can help you to set up a Trust that lasts for the lifetime of the Beneficiary and protects their interests. Trusts can be straight-forward tools, but they must be tailored to suit individual circumstances, so they function well. It is important to seek expert legal advice from a specialist as Trusts have tax and other legal consequences that can trap the unwary.
The question is based upon a hypothetical situation.
In our Ask The Legal Expert column we get the latest specialist advice from
JCP Solicitors, which has an office in Carmarthen. This month, Natasha Johnston, HR advisor in JCP’S HR Team, discusses an issue around employment contracts that has been highlighted by a recent media story. Employers and employees may have noticed a story in the media about high profile firm, Pimlico Plumbers, which is allegedly planning to rewrite its workers’ contracts to require them to have the Covid-19 vaccination if it is safe for them to do so.
From an employment law perspective, this issue is complex. Rewriting contracts with existing workers and employees is something that should be done collaboratively, following strict protocols and practices, not simply delivered as a fait accompli. Legally, companies cannot force employees to take a vaccine as individuals have the Human Right to refuse medical treatment. People who refuse vaccination and are subsequently dismissed may have grounds to make a legal claim.
However, clearly, when it comes to receiving the vaccine, there are different thresholds of need in every sector. If, as an organisation, you operate within the social care sector, for example, you may be able to successfully argue it is a ‘reasonable management request’ for employees to be vaccinated on the basis that Covid-19 poses a serious risk to the vulnerable people you care for.
As an employer, you should consider which teams you deem to need the vaccine in order for your operations to function. Assess what action you would want to take if staff refuse vaccination would it be a disciplinary matter, or could you offer them an alternative role?
It is important to note that such an instruction might not be deemed reasonable and any process you follow to manage the fall-out of a refusal must be fair and based on individual circumstances. You must carefully weigh up the fact that an employee who refuses the vaccine could argue there is a discriminatory issue to consider such as: t "HF JG FNQMPZFFT BSF OPU DPOTJEFSFE to need to be vaccinated for their duties and offered it irrespective of the NHS roll out system t %JTBCJMJUZ JG UIFZ BSF BEWJTFE OPU UP have it due to a medical condition, have documented reactions to vaccinations or they have an extreme phobia that causes anxiety around vaccinations/needles t 4FY QSFHOBODZ BT PVUMJOFE JO UIF example above and t 3FMJHJPO PS CFMJFGT JG UIFZ BSF BEWJTFE not be vaccinated by a religious leader, or if they are anti-vaxxers and hold this as a philosophical belief
5IFSF BSF BMTP QPUFOUJBM %BUB 1SPUFDUJPO issues. Vaccination records are sensitive personal information - you should weigh up why you need to hold such information and how you will safeguard it.
We are in the very early days of the roll-out and anxieties are running high. An employer needs to be able to show that vaccines are a necessity from a health and safety standpoint in order to justify disciplinary action or treating employees differently if they are not vaccinated. It is likely an employer would also need to show they have exhausted all other measures to protect the health and safety of staff and those they come in contact with, before they could reasonably justify mandating the vaccine to protect staff. If you want to make it a job requirement to have vaccinations this would need to be written into employment contracts and you would need to go through a contract variation process to make this amendment after the fact.