iTrust Business
Business Succession & Trading Wealth Trust
Key Features of iTrust Business
iTrust Business is designed for owners of active trading businesses who want to organise business ownership and family succession before a death, incapacity or future exit. It can hold qualifying shares or other business interests under professional trustee ownership, helping preserve continuity while allowing the founder to remain involved in the business in an appropriate operational role.
Benefits
Business Ownership & Succession
Qualifying shares, partnership interests or other genuine business interests can be transferred to the Trustees using the appropriate legal documentation. The Trustees then hold and administer that interest for the trust, providing continuity of ownership and a structured succession framework for the family.
Business Relief-Aware Planning
Where the statutory conditions are met, qualifying business interests may benefit from Business Relief for Inheritance Tax. From 6 April 2026, qualifying property can receive 100% relief within the owner’s available £2.5 million 100% relief allowance, with qualifying value above that amount generally receiving 50% relief. Eligibility and the available allowance are reviewed before any transfer.
Potential CGT Deferral
Gift Hold-Over Relief may be available on qualifying transfers of business assets or shares into trust, allowing an otherwise chargeable gain to be deferred rather than paid immediately. Eligibility, valuation and any required claim are reviewed as part of implementation.
Continue Running the Business
You can continue in a genuine director, partner, employee or advisory role after the business interest is transferred, where the company or partnership arrangements permit. The Trustees own and exercise the ownership rights attached to the transferred interest, while your operational role can continue under the business’s normal governance.
Active Role & Commercial Remuneration
A founder may continue to receive genuine salary, director’s fees or other commercial remuneration from the underlying business for services actually provided. Remuneration must arise through the business’s proper governance arrangements and must not be used as a route to return settled trust value to the Settlor.
Continuity Beyond Death or Incapacity
Business interests already owned by the Trustees remain under the trust’s ownership if the founder dies or loses capacity, avoiding the need for those trust-owned interests to pass through the founder’s estate merely to establish ownership. The Trustees then continue to administer the interests for the discretionary beneficiaries in accordance with the deed.
Trading Business Assets
The trust can hold qualifying trading-business interests and may receive dividends, business distributions, loan repayments or sale proceeds arising from trust-owned interests, subject to the tax and legal treatment applicable at the time.
Business Investment & Restructuring
The Trustees can participate in appropriate company or partnership transactions, including subscriptions, reorganisations, acquisitions, share exchanges or holding structures, where these are legally and commercially appropriate and have been reviewed for tax and governance consequences.
Business Relief Review
As part of implementation we review the nature of the business, ownership period, trading / investment profile, material cash and investment assets, proposed sale arrangements and the client’s available Business Relief allowance. This review is refreshed as part of ongoing administration because qualification can change as the business evolves.
Additional Features
Included with your trust at no extra cost
If your principal assets are rental properties or a property investment portfolio, a separate property-specific iTrust structure may be more appropriate. Your adviser will identify the correct route as part of the planning review.
Ancillary FVFI Property-Value Planning
Where a business owner also has a separate property-value planning objective, the Business Trust can accept a Fixed Value Financial Interest (FVFI) that has been separately and validly created under the approved FVFI documentation and accepted by the Trustees. This allows the same wider trust arrangement to combine business succession with appropriate property-value planning where suitable.
Where Business Relief is being relied upon, the qualifying business shares or other business property should ordinarily be transferred directly into the trust. An FVFI does not qualify for Business Relief merely because its value is calculated by reference to an underlying business asset that might itself qualify.
Secure Your Business Today
Sale & Exit Continuity
If a trust-owned business interest is later sold, the Trustees can receive and continue to administer the sale consideration for the family. A sale is a major review point: Business Relief may cease to apply to cash or other proceeds and any held-over capital gain, replacement securities and wider tax consequences must be reviewed.
A valid transfer creates separate trust ownership of the property actually transferred. Existing personal guarantees, creditor rights, insolvency rules and court powers are not defeated merely because a trust exists.
Business Relief and other tax reliefs depend on the statutory conditions and the facts at the relevant time. They are not created or guaranteed by the trust. Existing personal guarantees and creditor rights are not extinguished by transferring property into trust.
Getting Started
iTrust Business brings business succession into the wider estate-planning structure.
Contact UsFrequently Asked Questions
What is iTrust Business?
iTrust Business brings business succession into the wider estate-planning structure.
For many business owners, the company represents a substantial part of family wealth.
Does the trust automatically run my company?
No.
Ownership and management are different.
The company's own articles, shareholder arrangements and governance remain relevant.
Why aren't business shares simply transferred immediately?
Because tax reliefs, Capital Gains Tax, control, valuations, shareholder restrictions and personal guarantees may all need to be considered.
The objective is to preserve valuable commercial and tax advantages, not disturb them unnecessarily.
Important information
Important information: The benefits described are general illustrations of how the relevant iTrust may operate when appropriately structured and funded. Actual legal, tax and asset-protection outcomes depend on individual circumstances, the assets involved, the terms of the trust and any supplemental instruments, effective implementation and applicable law at the relevant time. Trustee decisions remain subject to the trust deed and their legal duties. Tax treatment and protection from third-party claims cannot be guaranteed and specialist advice may be required.
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