What Is a Property Protection Trust — and Does Your Family Need One?

What Is a Property Protection Trust — and Does Your Family Need One?

 

For most families across North Somerset and Bristol, the home is the single most valuable asset they will ever own. It represents decades of mortgage payments, hard work, and careful saving. And for the vast majority of people, it sits at the heart of what they hope to pass on to their children and grandchildren.

Yet every week, without realising it, families across this country put that asset at risk. Not through negligence or bad intent — but simply because the right legal arrangement isn't in place.

If you and your partner own a home together, there are two scenarios that could mean your share ends up with entirely the wrong people: sideways disinheritance and care fees. Both are far more common than most families realise. And both are largely preventable — with a legal structure called a Property Protection Trust.

In this article, we'll explain exactly what a Property Protection Trust is, how it works, who it's designed to protect, and what happens to families who don't have one in place.

 

The Two Risks Most Homeowners Don't Know About

Before explaining how a Property Protection Trust works, it helps to understand the two problems it's designed to solve.

Risk 1: Sideways Disinheritance

When one partner in a couple dies, most people assume the surviving partner will inherit their share of the home — and that when the survivor eventually dies, the property will pass to the children. Simple. Straightforward. Sorted.

But life rarely follows that neat script.

When a property is jointly owned and the first partner dies, their share typically passes outright to the survivor. The survivor then owns the home in full. They have complete legal control over what happens to it next. And if they remarry, update their Will in favour of a new spouse, or simply change their mind about who should inherit — the children from the first relationship may receive nothing.

This is known as sideways disinheritance. The inheritance doesn't disappear — it moves sideways, away from the intended beneficiaries and towards an unintended one. And it happens with entirely legal regularity, often without any malicious intent on anyone's part.

It is a particular risk for couples with children from previous relationships. In a blended family, both partners may fully intend for their children to inherit. But without the right legal structure, good intentions have no legal weight.

Risk 2: Care Fees

The cost of residential care in England is substantial — and rising.

Average UK care home fees in 2025 are £1,406 per week for residential care and £1,558 per week for nursing care. That equates to over £73,000 per year for standard residential care — and over £81,000 for nursing care. For families in the South West, the figures are significant. A two-year stay in residential care costs well over £140,000. Five years — not unusual for conditions such as dementia — approaches £365,000.

Under current rules in England, anyone with assets above £23,250 is classified as a self-funder and is expected to pay their own care costs. Property is included in that assessment. Which means that for many families, the home — their most significant asset — becomes the primary source of care funding. And once it is assessed as a care fee asset, it can be consumed rapidly.

The planned reforms that would have raised the threshold to £100,000 and introduced an £86,000 lifetime cap were scrapped by the government in July 2024. The current rules remain in place, with no confirmed date for any meaningful reform. For families planning now, the existing framework is what must be navigated.

The proportion of people self-funding their care has been growing. Between 40,000 and 70,000 homes are sold annually in the UK to fund care costs. These are real families — across North Somerset, Bristol, Bath, and every corner of England — watching the home they spent a lifetime building disappear into care fees that were never properly planned for.

What Is a Property Protection Trust?

A Property Protection Trust — also known as a Life Interest Trust — is a legal arrangement written directly into your Will. It changes what happens to your share of the family home when you die, in a way that protects both your surviving partner and your chosen beneficiaries.

Here is how it works in practice.

When you and your partner own a home jointly, you each hold a share. To set up a Property Protection Trust, the first step is to change the nature of how you own the property — from Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common. This is a straightforward legal process that means each partner legally owns their separate share of the property, and can determine independently what happens to that share in their Will.

Your Will then places your share into a trust on your death. That share does not pass outright to your surviving partner. Instead, it is held in trust — legally ring-fenced, separate, and protected.

Your surviving partner retains the full right to remain in the home for the rest of their life. Nothing changes for them day to day. They are not asked to move. They are not forced to sell. Their security and comfort in the family home is completely intact.

But when they eventually die — or if they choose to leave the property — your protected share passes to your chosen beneficiaries, exactly as you intended. It cannot be redirected by remarriage. It cannot be changed by a new Will. It cannot be consumed by your partner's care fees. It is held securely in trust, waiting to reach the people you have chosen.

 

What a PPT Protects Against — In Plain Terms

Let's be specific about what a Property Protection Trust actually does, and what it doesn't do.

Protection against sideways disinheritance ✅

Your share of the property is placed in trust and cannot be redirected — by remarriage, a new Will, a new relationship, or any other future decision your surviving partner makes. Whatever happens in their life after your death, your children's inheritance remains protected.

Partial protection against care fees ✅

If your surviving partner later needs residential care, the means test assesses their assets — not yours. Only the surviving partner's share of the property may be considered in care fee assessments; the deceased partner's share, held in the trust, is ring-fenced for the beneficiaries.
This means that in a jointly owned home, only half the property value is potentially exposed to care fee assessment — rather than the whole. For a North Somerset home worth £300,000, that's a meaningful distinction. The protected half remains for your children.

Protection against future uncertainty ✅

Life is unpredictable. A surviving partner might face financial difficulties, bankruptcy, or creditor claims. Because your share is held in trust — not in their personal estate — it is protected from those circumstances too.

What a PPT cannot do ✗

A Property Protection Trust is not a tool for avoiding care fees that are already foreseeable. Setting up a PPT solely to avoid care fees may not be effective if a care need is already anticipated — local authorities have powers to assess arrangements made with the deliberate intention of avoiding means-tested costs. The trust must be set up for legitimate estate planning purposes, well in advance of any care need arising.

It is also important to note that a PPT protects only the deceased partner's share — not the surviving partner's share. The survivor's half remains part of their estate and is subject to normal assessment rules.

This is why professional advice matters. A PPT is a powerful and legitimate tool when used correctly. It is not a shortcut, and it is not a guarantee. But for families planning ahead in good faith, it provides real, meaningful, and entirely legal protection.

 

Who Needs a Property Protection Trust?

A Property Protection Trust is worth considering seriously if any of the following apply to you:

You own a home jointly with a partner and have children. If you want to ensure that your share of the property reaches your children — rather than being redirected by future events in your partner's life — a PPT provides that assurance.

You are in a second marriage or blended family. This is where PPTs are most urgently needed. If both partners have children from previous relationships, a standard Will leaving everything to the surviving spouse leaves each set of children entirely dependent on the goodwill of a person who may later have other priorities. A PPT removes that vulnerability.

You are concerned about care fees. If the prospect of care costs depleting your estate is a concern — and for most homeowners it should be — a PPT ensures that at minimum, your share of the home is preserved for your chosen beneficiaries.

You are an unmarried couple. You do not have to be married or in a civil partnership to benefit from a Property Protection Trust. If you are cohabiting with a partner and own a share of your property, a PPT can still work for you.

You simply want certainty. A PPT replaces goodwill and good intentions with a legally binding arrangement. For many families, that peace of mind alone is worth every penny.

 

A Real-Life Illustration

Consider a couple — let's call them Margaret and David — who own a home in North Somerset worth £350,000. They each have children from previous marriages. They both want their children to ultimately inherit their share of the home, but they also want the surviving partner to be able to stay in the house for as long as they choose.

Without a PPT, here is what might happen: David dies first. His share of the home passes outright to Margaret. Some years later, Margaret meets someone new and remarries. She updates her Will. When Margaret dies, her entire estate — including the home — passes to her new husband. David's children receive nothing from a property their father spent his working life paying for.

With a PPT in place, the outcome is completely different. When David dies, his share of the home is placed in trust. Margaret retains the full right to live in the house — nothing changes for her. She can remarry if she chooses, and her new husband can live there too (if you choose to allow this). But when Margaret eventually dies, David's share passes directly to his children, exactly as he always intended. And if Margaret later needs residential care, only her share of the property is included in the means test. David's protected share remains for his family.

Both outcomes protected. Both families given the certainty they deserve.

 

How Is a Property Protection Trust Set Up?

Setting up a Property Protection Trust involves several steps, all of which we handle on your behalf:

Step 1 — Change of ownership. If you currently own your home as Joint Tenants, we arrange for the ownership to be changed to Tenants in Common. This is done via a simple legal process registered at the Land Registry and does not require your mortgage lender's consent in most cases.

Step 2 — Will drafting. Your Will is carefully drafted to include the Property Protection Trust, clearly specifying your surviving partner as the life tenant and your chosen beneficiaries as the remainder beneficiaries — those who will ultimately inherit your protected share.

Step 3 — Review and signing. We go through everything with you at home, in plain English, until you are entirely comfortable. The Will is then signed and witnessed correctly.

Step 4 — Storage and peace of mind. Your Will and trust arrangements are stored safely, and you can rest assured that your family is protected — whatever the future holds.

 

The Right Time to Act Is Now

One of the most important things to understand about a Property Protection Trust is that it must be set up while both partners are alive and well.

Once a partner has died, it is too late to put a PPT in place for their share. The moment of death is the moment the property passes — and if the right arrangement isn't already in the Will, the opportunity is gone.

Similarly, for care fee protection to be meaningful, the trust should be established well in advance of any foreseeable care need. It cannot be set up reactively when a diagnosis has already been made and care is imminent.

The families we most wish we could have helped sooner are those who knew they needed to do this, kept meaning to get around to it, and then found themselves dealing with exactly the consequences a PPT would have prevented.

 

Talk to Us

We help families across North Somerset, Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Portishead, Nailsea, and the surrounding area put Property Protection Trusts in place — clearly, professionally, and in the comfort of their own home.

We come to you. We explain everything in plain English. And we make sure your family is properly protected — before life makes the decision for you.

Get in touch today for a free, no-obligation consultation. Let's make sure your home goes to the right people.

📞  01934 442030  📧  info@futuraplanning.co.uk 🌐  www.futuraplanning.co.uk

Futura Planning Ltd is a specialist estate planning practice based in North Somerset, serving families across Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Portishead, Nailsea, and the surrounding area.

 

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