A shelf of old leather-bound volumes with gilt lettering on the spines

From a deed of 1931"…to hold the same upon trust for such of my descendants as shall be living at the expiry of the said period, in such shares as the Trustees shall in their absolute discretion think fit."

Sloane Fiduciary · Professional trustees and executors · Est. 1931

Hold what cannot be held loosely.

A trustee has one job: to be the person who doesn't leave.We hold family trusts, estates and charities for as long as they last, which is usually longer than anyone who set them up.

Arrange a trustee meeting

Roles

Four chairs we're asked to sit in.

We sell nothing. No funds, no policies, no products. That's the whole reason to ask a firm like ours rather than a bank.

01TrusteeFamily and discretionary trusts. We are one trustee among the family's own, or the only one when there's nobody left who should be.

02ExecutorThe year after a death, done by people who've done it six hundred times and still call every beneficiary by name.

03ProtectorThe person the trustees answer to. For families with trustees abroad who want a voice at home.

04Charity trusteeSmall foundations that need a treasurer who reads the accounts and a trustee who turns up. Both, in one.

01 · One trust

Settled 1931. Still ours.

1931

the same trust, the fourth trustee

A shipbuilder settles his shares.Three children, one deed, thirty-one pages in copperplate. The firm's first instruction. The deed is still in the safe.

02 · The four duties

1 / 4

Loyalty.To the beneficiaries, and to no one else. Not the settlor, not the family member who calls most, not ourselves.

A wall covered edge to edge in the pages of old printed books

Paper outlives people. We keep both.

Every deed, every minute, every set of accounts since 1931, in a fireproof room with a second copy in another county. A beneficiary born next year can read what was decided for them today.

Practice

Boring, on purpose. Documented, always.

A good trustee year has no surprises in it. Here's what one looks like.

Accounts to every beneficiary.Every year, in full, in plain English. Including the ones who never asked. Especially those.

Trustee meetings, minuted.Twice a year at least. Decisions written down with the reasons. Distributions never made by phone.

Investments managed by someone else.We appoint and review the manager. We never are the manager. Nobody here earns from what the trust buys.

A named person.Each trust has one trustee whose name and direct line every beneficiary holds. When they retire, you meet the next one first.

Trustee · annual

0.35%

Of assets under trust, minimum £6,000 a year. Covers meetings, accounts, distributions, tax returns and every phone call.

Executor · fixed

From £9,500

Quoted on the size of the estate before we take the grant. Doesn't change if it takes longer. Usually does.

Advice · hourly

£280 /hr

Setting up, varying or winding up a trust. Estimated in writing first. Not charged for reading the deed.

No commission, from anyone, ever. If a fund manager sends us a cheque, it goes to the trust it came from.

Senior trustee · SolicitorMargaret Sloane-Achebe

Fourth generation of the name on the door. Trustee of sixty-one trusts, executor of more estates than she'll count. Reads every deed herself.

Trustee · Chartered accountantOwen Kirkpatrick

The accounts. Every set, every year, with a note on the front page saying what changed and why. Beneficiaries write back to him.

Begin

Arrange a trustee meeting.

An hour, no charge, in our rooms or yours. Bring the deed if there is one. If there isn't yet, bring the question.

Arrange a trustee meeting