Trusts are usually set up where large sums of money are involved, or where relationships between different family members are complicated (such as after divorce and remarriage, and where children and stepchildren are involved). But the primary reason that people set up a trust as part of their estate planning is that they want to leave assets to their children or grandchildren, but want to restrict access until they’ve reached a certain age.

Although setting up a trust gives you much greater control over where your assets will eventually go, it’s worth pointing out some of the inherent challenges.

One of the first, and most important, decisions you’ll need to make is choosing who to appoint as the trustee. Traditionally, this role is taken up by another, more senior family member, such as an aunt or an uncle. And, as the name suggests, it’s essential that you implicitly trust whoever is appointed to the role to look after the family wealth. Trustees must follow a duty of care towards the beneficiaries of the trust, and act in their best interests.

Today, it’s commonplace to have the family member appointed as a co-trustee alongside a professionally appointed trustee. That way, the family member can call on the professional expertise to help guide any important decisions.

Trusts are usually set up because children have not yet reached an age where they can be considered responsible enough to know what to do with a sudden inheritance. But that could potentially cause hardship and hurt if the rules are too strict, or the beneficiary can’t access their money when they might be in real need of it. While trusts often come with legal restrictions, it’s important to remember that at some point it’s up to the beneficiary to decide how they choose to live their life.

When the trust has been set up to preserve the family’s wealth for future generations, it’s particularly important to set an investment strategy that has clear aims and objectives that reflect the wishes of the trustee. This might be to generate a regular income that can be used to fund school fees or investing for growth with the aim of building up a lump sum for a house deposit.