Missed opportunities

The Perpetuities and Accumulation Act 2009 (PAA 2009) was supposed to not only extend the period of time a trust under English law can exist but also clarify existing law. In relation to the use of by-pass trust arrangements put in place to receive pension lump sum death benefits, the new legislation would appear to fall well short of its objectives. By way of background by-pass trusts are commonly used as a means of controlling who, how and when individuals receive any pension lump sum death benefits. For example, if a member of a pension scheme had children from a previous marriage, h...