‘Why is it so difficult for us to open a bank account for a trust for my brother with special needs?’

Question: My parents left a quarter of their estate for the welfare of my brother, who has special needs. They used a simple will trust with no restrictions. My two siblings and I are trustees. My brother doesn’t have any immediate need for the funds as he is very well cared for and has his own bank account.

Our intention is to keep the trust funds in case of any unexpected development in his life, but also to provide treats such as holidays.

I approached AIB more than a year ago to open a workable account (for the trust). As trustees, we’ve been through hell and back with form-signing and obtaining witness’ signatures on several types of accounts, only to be told it’s not the right type for this purpose.

My siblings live in different countries so we need an account that can be administered online but this does not appear to be possible. I’m pretty sure my parents’ intention was not to burden us with this problem. Our situation surely cannot be unique?

Monica, Co Cork

Answer: A trust is very useful for a family member with special needs as it protects their assets and, if the trust is discretionary, it’s generally not taken into account for means-tested benefits. But in my experience, all banks make it challenging to open a bank account for a trust.

A trust is a separate entity to both the ultimate beneficiary and to you and your two siblings as trustees. An application should be made to the Revenue Commissioners to register the trust and obtain a PPS number. In addition, anti-money laundering legislation requires details of the trust and its beneficial owner to be given to the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts, which Revenue is responsible for.

After that, an account can be set up. My experience is that the banks’ legal teams are involved in checking the terms of the trust and, in general, the account-opening procedure is more onerous. Even though your siblings live abroad, all trustees would have to come together and arrange a meeting with your bank branch. You’d have to bring a certified copy of the Deed of Trust (the will), identification and address verification, and then complete all account-opening forms on site.

The above is the preferable and correct option. However, some families decide that if the amount held in trust is small, the siblings will just open a regular account in their names without explicit reference to the trust but still abiding by the trust’s terms.

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