Death Benefit Trusts

Offering death benefits reassures employees that their families will be supported. Managing those funds, however, requires careful planning and ongoing oversight.

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Managing death benefit trusts for your business

Specialist advice helps you establish and run death benefit trusts that protect employees’ families while safeguarding your business.

We work at every stage, from drafting trust documents and acting as professional trustees, through to developing investment strategies and meeting HMRC requirements. We also ensure distributions to beneficiaries are handled fairly and in line with the objectives of your scheme.

We act for leading businesses across the UK, working closely with HR teams, finance directors, and trustees to design solutions tailored to your organisation. Whether you are introducing death benefits for the first time or managing a long-standing scheme, we will help you defend your team and keep your business fully aligned with requirements.

We can help with:

Drafting and reviewing trust documentation
Acting as professional trustees
Designing and implementing investment strategies
Meeting HMRC compliance obligations
Managing changing beneficiary needs
Distributing funds to beneficiaries

With practical cross-disciplinary guidance, we will ensure your trust arrangements work smoothly in practice while meeting all legal and regulatory requirements.

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Speak to a Legal Partner

Our team support you to navigate complexity, seize opportunity and move forward with legal clarity.

Darran Fawcett

Partner

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Meet our experts

Darran Fawcett

Partner

Find out more

Contact our Specialists

Get strategic advice from a team that knows how to protect and grow your business. Please complete our enquiry form and one of our experts will contact you by the next working day.

Alternatively, you can call us now.

Our opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm (Excluding Public Holidays).

0370 1500 100

Making an enquiry

We have several ways you can contact us, either by completing our online contact form, by phone, or using our live chat. If you start your journey online, here are the first steps to working together.

Complete our online form
We need a few details to understand your situation and the kind of support you need.
We’ll contact you by phone
On the call our experts will ask you a few more questions to make sure we connect you with the right legal advice from our team.
We arrange a full appointment
Your next step is an in-depth appointment with a specialist solicitor to discuss how we could advise you.

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Our commitment to you

Our experts always start by listening, so we understand what matters most from day one.

01
Clear legal guidance
You will always get straightforward, honest advice, with regular updates to keep you clear on the way forward.
02
Specialist knowledge
A wide-ranging team of trusted specialists who understand what it takes to protect your future, your family or your business.
03
Your needs first
Whether you’re navigating complex personal situations or business decisions, we take the time to understand your world and what’s at stake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the questions we're asked about death benefit trusts.

Who can we help?

We work with any business that offers death benefits to their employees.

Our team manage the death benefit trusts for some of the UK’s leading businesses, such as:

IBM
Morrisons
Sainsbury’s
Superdrug
Tesco
Rolls Royce.

Whether you want to offer death benefits as a new perk or already have a scheme, we can advise on what would suit your business. We work with businesses of any size and because we’re a well-established law firm with decades of experience, we can handle large schemes with many employees.

How does Irwin Mitchell’s Death Benefit Trusts Service work?

All you will need to do is transfer the death benefit payment to our in-house trust company – Irwin Mitchell Trustees Limited. We will then hold these funds in a trust for the beneficiaries of the employee that’s died, taking into consideration any guidance that you give.

Our team of trust, accounting and tax specialists will work together to manage the trust. We will make sure every decision that’s made will be in the best interest of the beneficiaries. A big part of managing a trust is making sure the trustees are up to the job. Many of our lawyers act as trustees on private and pension trusts. This gives us detailed, hands-on knowledge of the duties of a trustee and issues they could face. We will be there to guide trustees to make the right decisions and avoid any regulatory issues.

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Other Pensions and Employee Benefit services

Enhance your employee benefits package with advice that balances meeting legal obligations with long-term business value. We provide practical insight across the full spectrum of pensions and employee trust matters.

Pension Scheme Governance
Keep your scheme compliant and cost-effective. We advise trustees and employers on governance frameworks, reporting duties, and regulatory oversight.
Auto-Enrolment Compliance
Ensure smooth operation of workplace pensions. Set up, manage, and review auto-enrolment arrangements so they remain aligned with statutory requirements.
Employee Benefit Trusts
Design and operate tax-efficient incentive schemes that reward and retain staff. From adhering to laws through to implementation, create structures that support both your business and its people.