STEP Diploma in Trusts and Estates (England and Wales)

Course purpose

The course enables you to improve your technical knowledge of the issues arising in trust and estate practice, enhancing your ability to give holistic advice to your clients as a trusted advisor. It increases your understanding of the administration of trusts and estates and enables you to give practical advice on the law and procedures involved.

You will be able to

• Describe the classification and types of trusts, their uses, what affects their validity, their premature cessation and under what circumstances they can and cannot be altered.
• Advise on the taxation of each trust type.
• Explain, advise and comment on the use of the trust in modern tax planning.
• Understand and interpret the legal complexities and language pertinent to trust deeds.
• Describe the roles, responsibilities, limitations and liabilities of trustees.
• Advise on the legal formalities involved in the preparation of a valid will and be alert to the pitfalls.
• Analyse the content and validity of an existing will, assess its value to a client and advise to what extent it will meet their objectives.
• Advise on the tax-effective will.
• Advise on the tax implications and legal considerations of making lifetime gifts and gifts made in contemplation of death.
• Describe the roles, responsibilities, limitations and liabilities of the executor.
• Advise on the legal management of the client estate, including probate and intestacy issues, evaluation of any risks involved, deeds of variation, disclaimers and insolvency.
• Advise on taxation issues relating to the transference of private client wealth, specifically inheritance tax and capital gains tax, and how the burden of taxation can be minimised.
• Construct and interpret trust and client estate accounts.

Course audience

Students of this course typically include:

• Legal and trust professionals
• Support staff and paralegals
• Accountants and banking professionals
• Charity specialists
• Tax advisors
• Independent financial advisors
• Executorship administrators

Features

• Ideal for practitioners looking for professional accreditation, moving into or already working within the trusts and estates profession.
• A recognised ‘gold-standard’ professional qualification for those working in the industry, globally recognised by employers, regulators, clients and professionals.
• This course is also subject to the rigorous quality assurance procedures of Alliance Manchester Business School (Alliance MBS), a school of the University of Manchester.
• Ability to grow your own professional network, meeting students from a range of professions providing an opportunity for networking, building relationships and sharing study tips/support as a cohort.
• Students have the opportunity to submit academic queries to a dedicated programme content team.
• Successful completion of the course will award students with 120 Diploma-Level credits towards STEP membership.

Format, Delivery and Assessment

This Diploma programme comprises four standalone STEP Advanced Certificate courses that together cover the curriculum of the STEP Diploma in Trusts and Estates.

The four papers which comprise this Diploma are:

• Advanced Certificate in Administration of Estates
• Advanced Certificate in Administration of Trusts
• Advanced Certificate in Taxation of Trusts and Estates
• Advanced Certificate in Trust and Estate Accounting

Each of these Advanced Certificates can be taken as a standalone qualification or as part of the Diploma Programme.

As of May 2021 sitting for the STEP Diploma in Trust and Estates, we will be delivering three workshops as part of this course offering.

Over recent years our students have chosen to attend the optional, extra Revision/Computations Day as part of their study journey, and after evaluating feedback, have taken the decision to incorporate this session as part of the overall offering to provide further access to valuable tuition.

The introduction of this third workshop is intended to provide all students with the opportunity to consolidate their knowledge and learning ahead of the examination with their peers and the course tutor, enabling them to work through more specimen examination questions, participate in group discussions and ask any academic queries about topics they may be struggling with. Whilst the first two workshops will continue to cover some of the core subject areas and serve as touch points to support students during their studies, the third workshop towards the end of the study period will be focused on revision of the topics and preparing all students for the final examination.

Exemptions

There are no formal exemptions available for this course.