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A secret trust can be used to conceal the identity of the recipient of a legacy. An example would be in the testator’s will it might read ‘I leave £50,000 to John’. On the face of it, this may look like the Testator has left £50,000 to John. However, the Testator has secretly asked John to hold the £50,000 on trust for Simon. As the Will does not make any reference to the trust, no one would know that the £50,000 is being paid to Simon. This can cause problems, as the success of the gift depends on John acting honestly and passing the money onto Simon. There could be problems also if John dies before the Testator. A half secret trust is where the Will creates a trust, but it does not reveal any of the details of who the beneficiaries usually are. The Will would leave the gift to the trustees to hold on trust ‘for purposes already communicated to them’. The existence of these sorts of trusts can create further complications for executors when administrating an estate.  If you require further information please contact our Private Client department on hsamra@blackhams.com or telephone 0121 233 6916.