Liferent trusts—Scotland

Produced in partnership with Pete Murrin of Turcan Connell
Practice notes

Liferent trusts—Scotland

Produced in partnership with Pete Murrin of Turcan Connell

Practice notes
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FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 30 January 2024, marking the first review of trusts law in Scotland in over 100 years since the principal legislation, the Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921, was passed. The trusts provisions require secondary legislation from Scottish Ministers to be brought into force whereas some provisions relating to succession law came into effect on 30 April 2024. The main changes to modernise the law are summarised in News Analysis: Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill passed. Practice Notes on areas of Scottish trusts and succession law will be updated further to reflect this new legislation.

Liferent trusts

A liferent trust (or trust liferent) is a trust which, when settled, confers a use and income benefit, or both, in the trust property upon a Beneficiary or beneficiaries. The beneficiary enjoying the use or fruits of the trust property is known as the liferenter.

Liferent trusts will sometimes be referred to as Interest in possession (IIP) trusts or life interest trusts (the preferred English nomenclature)—see

Pete Murrin
Pete Murrin

Partner, Turcan Connell


Pete advises clients on estate and succession planning, the formation and administration of trusts, taxation of trusts and estates, personal and commercial succession of family businesses, the preparation of Wills, adults with incapacity, and international inheritance and succession matters for high-net-worth clients. He has particular expertise in dealing with contentious trust, estate (testate and intestate) and pension death benefits matters for individual and business clients. Pete also has considerable experience in the field of Trust formation and administration generally and Personal Injury Trusts specifically.

He is a member of the Society of Trust and the Estate Practitioners and accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in Trusts Law and Private Client Tax, and by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners as a TEP. 

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Liferent definition
What does Liferent mean?

A lifetime right of a person to use but not consume or destroy another's property.

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