Protective Property Trust Wills

£120 for a pair of Wills online

£240 for a pair of Wills by phone

You will get:

• A pair of Protective Property Trust Wills ready to print and sign
• Tenants in Common documentation (if required, £60 extra)

Once your Wills are signed and witnessed, and you own your home as Tenants in Common, the first of you to die leaves their share of the home in trust, not to the survivor.

What is a Protective Property Trust Will ?

A Protective Property Trust Will (also called a Property Protection Trust or Life Interest Trust Will) is one of a pair of Wills for a couple who own their home together. When the first of you dies, your share of the home goes into a trust instead of passing to the survivor. The survivor can carry on living there for the rest of their life, and your share is kept for the people you choose, usually your children.

Because the survivor never owns the whole home, only their own share can be counted if they later need long-term care. It also works if you already own your home in unequal shares (for example 60/40): the trust then holds whatever share the first of you to die owned. These Wills are valid in England and Wales only.

Is it right for us ?

Protective Property Trust Wills are usually a good fit if:

• you are a couple (married, in a civil partnership, or living together) who own your home together in England or Wales
• you want your share of the home to go to your children (or other chosen people) in the end
• you are worried about care-home fees, or about the survivor remarrying and the home passing outside your family
• you have a second marriage or a blended family and want each of you to decide where your own share ends up

They are not the right choice if:

• you rent your home, or only one of you owns it
• either of you already needs care, or expects to soon: see ‘When should we see a solicitor instead?’ below

How do Protective Property Trust Wills work ?

How do care fees affect your home?

If someone moves permanently into a care home, the local council carries out a financial assessment. As at 2026-27: in England, if their savings and assets come to more than £23,250, they pay the full cost of their care. In Wales the limit is £50,000. The value of their home can count towards that limit.

The council won’t count the home while the person’s husband, wife or partner (or certain other relatives) still lives there. Once nobody in those groups lives there, it usually can.

The problem with ‘normal’ Wills

With normal Mirror Wills, when the first of you dies the survivor inherits everything, including the whole home. If the survivor later needs long-term care, up to 100% of the home’s value can be used to pay for it.

How a Protective Property Trust Will changes that

On first death, your share of the home (normally half, or your existing share if you already own it in unequal shares) is not left to the survivor. It goes into a trust run by the Trustees named in your Will. The survivor keeps the right to live in the home for life (a ‘Life Interest’), but never owns more than their original share.

So if the survivor later needs care, only their own share can be counted, not the share held in trust. When the survivor dies, the Trustees pass the trust share to the people you chose.

What it does not do

• It protects the share of the first of you to die, whatever size that share is. It does not protect the survivor’s own share.
• It cannot help if you both go into care while you are both alive, because a Will only takes effect on death.
• It only works if you own the home as Tenants in Common. As Joint Tenants, the survivor automatically inherits the whole home, whatever the Will says. We check this for you and can change it for £60.

Isn’t this ‘deliberate deprivation of assets’ ?

Councils can treat someone as still owning money or property they gave away deliberately to avoid care fees. A Protective Property Trust Will works differently: the survivor never owned the first share in the first place, because it passes straight into the trust on death. For that reason it is not generally treated as deprivation.

Timing still matters. Making these Wills, and changing to Tenants in Common, while you are both well is far stronger than doing it when one of you already needs care. If care is already on the horizon, take advice first.

When should we see a solicitor instead ?

Our service suits most couples. We recommend independent legal advice if:

• either of you already needs care, or is likely to soon
• either of you may not have the mental capacity to make a Will
• the property you wish to protect is outside England and Wales
• you own a farm or a business, or your home is part of a business
• your permanent home is outside the UK and you are not a British citizen

Frequently Asked Questions

If we have ‘Protective Property Trust’ Wills do we also need ‘Normal’ Wills?
No. Your ‘Protective Property Trust’ Wills are all you need. In them, you can specify everything that you can specify in ‘Normal’ Wills: gifts, legacies, bequests, Guardians, Funeral Wishes, and who is to get your Residuary Estate.

Is a ‘Life Interest Trust’ the same thing?
Yes. ‘Life Interest Trust’, ‘Property Protection Trust’ and ‘Protective Property Trust’ are different names for the same arrangement.

After the first death, who owns the share that goes into trust?
It stays in the estate of the first to die and is held in trust by the Trustees named in the Will. When the survivor dies, the Trustees pass it to the beneficiaries of the Residuary Estate (or to whoever else you chose).

What happens if the survivor wants to move to another property?
The protection carries on. The original property is sold and the proceeds buy the new one, owned in the same shares as before: the survivor’s share and the trust’s share. If any money is left over, it is split in the same proportions. The survivor keeps their part. The Trustees invest the trust’s part, pay the survivor the income from it, and on the survivor’s death pass the capital to whoever inherits the property.

What happens if the survivor remarries?
Your share stays in the trust. The survivor’s new partner cannot inherit it, and it still passes to the people you chose.

Do we have to specify the Protective Property Trust in the Will?
No - all you have to do is click ‘Get started Online’ at the top of this page and our online software will automatically do it for you.

What does Tenants in Common mean?
Each of you owns your own share of the property, and you can each leave your share in your Will. If you convert using our service, the shares are equal. With the other form of joint ownership - ‘Joint Tenants’ - the instant one of you dies then their share automatically passes to the survivor (who then owns 100%).

If we are ‘Joint Tenants’ will our Protective Property Trust Wills still work?
No - because on first death the survivor automatically owns 100% of the property. This is why our service includes checking that you are Tenants in Common and changing from Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common if needs be.

Is the ‘Tenants in Common’ included in the Wills?
No - it's completely separate. Once you've completed the Protective Property Trust Wills, we take you through the Tenants in Common process. It is very straightforward and only takes a few minutes.

Do we have to do the ‘Tenants in Common’ before we do the Wills or after?
It doesn't matter whether you do the Wills before or after doing the ‘Tenants in Common’. All that matters is that both are done before first death.

Are there any circumstances in which Protective Property Trust Wills will not work?
If you both go into Long Term Care before you die then obviously the Wills never come into effect - a Will only comes into effect on death. You may want to consider how you cover yourselves in this eventuality.

Does this guarantee the council won’t take our home?
No-one can promise that, because care-funding rules can change. What it does is keep the first share out of the survivor’s ownership, which is what the council assesses.

Does the trust share count towards the survivor’s estate for Inheritance Tax?
Yes. Because the survivor has the right to live in the home, the share held in trust is treated as part of the survivor’s estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. If you are married or in a civil partnership, no Inheritance Tax is due on first death. When the survivor dies, the trust share is added to their estate along with their own share. A Protective Property Trust protects the first share for the people you choose. It is not a way of reducing Inheritance Tax.

The questionnaire assumes we want to leave the rest of our estate to each other. What if we don’t?
Click PREVIOUS (once or more) until you reach the page ‘Who is this Will for and what do you want it to say?’. Then select the third option, ‘There are two of us. On first death we do not want the survivor to inherit the entire Estate’, and carry on as before.

If you have any questions that are not answered above then please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Written by a Professionally Qualified Willwriter and checked by our CEO. Last reviewed: April 2026. Care-fee limits are for 2026-27 and are reviewed every April.