Anyone have experience with Henson trusts?

I have a couple questions about Henson trusts.

Firstly, can you set one up for yourself? I assume not?

Secondly, what is the approximate cost to set one up. Both initial and ongoing. Thank you.

My limited knowledge from a few years back…

  1. You likely can set one up yourself if you anticipate you will lose the ability (because you’ll be too disabled) to mange your finances in the very near future. Make sure your family or friend is not a beneficiary of the trust as it could result in a lot of scrutinity from the CRA and higher taxes. Also once set up you will not be allowed to have any influence on how the trust is managed.

  2. You’ll need a family member, friend, or a institution (like RBC) to run the trust for you. Last I checked an institution will charge anywhere from 0.2% to 6% of the trust value per year to adminstrate it.

.2 to 6%? Just to run a trust? I’m in the wrong business lmfao.

Yup, financial managers aren’t cheap. Most mutual funds bought through any brick and mortor bank branch charge up to 4% each (they take a little bit every day so you don’t see it). Check your mutual funds MER (management expense ratio) and you’ll be shocked how much you are paying a financial manager each year without even knowing it.

So it looks like you can’t set one up for yourself for anyone that finds a threat in the future. They cannot be self-settled if you want to use the search function to find the relevant bit in this article.

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