Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Pilot trust definition

What does Pilot trust mean? In practice, a pilot trust is a lifetime trust constituted with a nominal sum (commonly £10/€10) so the settlement exists in advance and is ready to receive the main assets later (for example, by will, assignment, life policy or pension death benefits). The term is a descriptive expression used across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland; it is not defined in legislation or case law. Although minimally funded at the outset, the trust is valid and operative from creation, with trustees appointed and terms in place, and is used to pre‑package succession, ring‑fence classes of...

Pilot trusts and IHT after Finance (No 2) Act 2015: same-day additions, related settlements, Will planning, creation and merging

Published by a LexisNexis Private Client expert

Practice notes

A Pilot trust is a lifetime settlement created with a token amount (often a Nominal cash sum such as £10) and it remains inactive until more money or assets are later added thereafter. Setting up a trust in this fashion is very common indeed. The starter sum brings the trust into being so it stands ready to receive the principal assets at an appropriate future time.

Pilot trusts in practice

A great many trusts begin life as pilot trusts. The core assets of the trust might be introduced very shortly after the pilot starts. For instance, an individual intending to place property into trust could first establish a pilot and then soon after move UK land to the trustees by an HM Land Registry transfer. Equally, some pilots may not be topped up for several years and will largely lie dormant in the interim period. As another illustration, a pilot trust can act as a vehicle to which pension death benefits may later be paid, should those benefits become payable. Historically, a series of pilot trusts was sometimes used for tax planning purposes...

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Emma Haley

Boodle Hatfield LLP

Emma Haley, TEP, is a senior associate at Boodle Hatfield with many years experience in dealing with all aspects of wills, capital taxation and succession planning as well as UK and offshore trusts. Emma currently heads up the technical know-how team for the Private Client & Tax department and is responsible for in-house training, knowledge management and precedents. Boodle Hatfield is a leading private client law firm, renowned for providing first-class and practical legal advice to wealthy clients around the world. Boodle Hatfield advises on all issues affecting private clients from succession and estate planning to resolving trust and estate disputes, or advising on family breakdown....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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