Flexible Life Interest Trust (FLIT)
A life interest with wide overriding trustee powers - common in blended families - letting the trustees advance capital, reshape the trusts, and move the fund onto other trusts.
For the general law, see Understanding trusts.
What it is
A life interest for a named life tenant, plus wide overriding powers for the trustees. The life tenant takes the income (for life, or until an earlier end you choose), but - unlike the more rigid Interest in Possession - the trustees can advance capital, reshape the trusts, and move the fund onto other trusts. Income that isn't paid to the life tenant can be spread among the wider family or rolled up.
Who it suits
- Blended families above all - where you want to provide for a surviving partner while keeping the capital protected for children from an earlier relationship.
- Clients who want a life interest but also want the trustees to keep real flexibility to respond to how the family's circumstances change.
Which will it goes in
- Mirror wills - as the first-death trust. The life tenant is automatically the surviving spouse.
- Single wills - as the main trust. You must name the life tenant.
Add it as an order line ("FLIT Trust"). It can stand alone or be paired with a Discretionary Trust on the second death.
What you'll set on the form
Trustees and beneficiaries
Uses the life-interest three-way trustee choice - see the shared settings.
- The remainder beneficiaries are the people who inherit the capital after the life interest ends. Don't add the life tenant here - they already receive the income. They take in equal shares; any split you want goes in the Letter of Wishes.
- On a single will only, name the life tenant.
When the life interest ends
| Choice | What it means |
|---|---|
| For life (default) | Income continues until the life tenant dies. The usual choice. |
| Until remarriage or new civil partnership | Income also stops if the life tenant remarries or forms a new civil partnership. |
| Until they remarry or live with a new partner | Wider than remarriage - also stops if they move in with a new partner. |
| Until they leave my main residence | Income stops if the life tenant stops living in your main home. |
The trustees' powers (all on by default)
Turn any off to leave that power out of the will.
| Power | What it does |
|---|---|
| Power of advancement | Advance capital or income to any beneficiary. |
| Power to alter trusts | Revoke, vary or add to the trusts and set up new trusts for any beneficiary. |
| Power to appoint onto another trust | Move the fund to another trust that benefits a beneficiary. |
(The power to release or restrict these powers is always included.)
Vesting
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Default age at vesting | 18 | The age a beneficiary takes their share outright; held for them until then. |
Good to know
- On a mirror will the life tenant is set for you (the surviving spouse); on a single will the form requires you to name one.
- If you don't touch the end-condition or age settings, the trust is "for life" with a vesting age of 18.
- Remainder splits go in the Letter of Wishes, not the will.
The law behind it
- Understanding Trusts - A Plain-English GuideGeneral guidanceWhat a trust is, how it works, and a plain-language tour of every main type of trust used in England & Wales.
Related
- The Will (Single & Mirror)ProductThe complete reference for building a single or mirror will in InLeef - every option on the form, the trusts that slot in, what's fixed, and what the form checks.
- Interest in Possession (IIP)ProductA two-stage life-interest trust in which the surviving spouse takes the income for life, then the remainder passes to named beneficiaries or a discretionary trust.
- Discretionary Trust of ResidueProductA wide discretionary trust holding the whole residuary estate, where the trustees decide who benefits, when, and how much.