Do I need to register a trust set up by a will?

Not straight away. gov.uk lists 'a will trust – set up on death that takes assets from the estate and is closed within 2 years of death' as excluded from registration, unless it becomes liable to tax. HMRC's Trust Registration Service Manual (TRSM23020) describes this as a two-year exclusion running from the date of death. If the will trust is still running after two years, the manual says it must register within 90 days of the second anniversary of the death, unless another exclusion applies (for example a trust for a bereaved minor). If the trust becomes liable to tax sooner, for example because it receives income, it must be registered as a taxable trust.

What is the deadline to register a trust?

For a non-taxable trust created after 6 October 2020, gov.uk says you must register within 90 days of it being created or of it becoming liable for tax. For a taxable trust created on or after 6 April 2021, you must register within 90 days of the trust becoming liable for tax. Older taxable trusts have deadlines of 5 October or 31 January after the end of the relevant tax year, depending on the tax and whether the trust has paid it before. Source: gov.uk, Check if you need to register a trust.

What is the penalty for not registering a trust?

HMRC can charge a fixed penalty of £5,000 if trustees fail to register a trust or keep its details up to date within the time limit. gov.uk also says HMRC will not charge a penalty if it finds a failure, as long as the trustees put it right within the time limit HMRC sets in its letter, and that penalties are issued case by case. No interest is charged on the penalty. Source: gov.uk, When HMRC will issue a penalty charge for not registering or maintaining a trust.

Do bare trusts need to be registered?

Often, yes. HMRC's manual (TRSM10030) says 'there is no specific exclusion from registration for bare trusts' and that a bare trust which is an express trust should generally register, although several exclusions can apply to common arrangements, such as a trust set up to open a bank account for a child. Bare trusts are not usually registered as taxable trusts, because the tax is the beneficiary's responsibility.

Does a life insurance policy written in trust need to be registered?

Usually not. gov.uk lists 'a trust holding life insurance policies that only pay out on death, illness, or disability' among the trusts excluded from registration, unless the trust becomes liable to UK tax. Once the policy pays out and the trustees hold the money, the position can change, so check the rules again at that point. Source: gov.uk, Check if you need to register a trust.

Can I register a trust myself or do I need a solicitor?

You can register it yourself. gov.uk says the lead trustee, or an agent acting for them, registers the trust, and a lead trustee does this with an Organisation Government Gateway user ID (an individual Government Gateway ID will not work). gov.uk's guidance does not list a registration fee. If you ask a solicitor, accountant or other agent to do it, they must be registered as an agent with HMRC and will normally charge for their time. Source: gov.uk, Register a trust.

Trust Registration Service (TRS): who must register a trust with HMRC, deadlines and penalties

Q: What is the Trust Registration Service?

The Trust Registration Service (TRS) is HMRC's online register of trusts and the people connected to them: trustees, settlors and beneficiaries. It exists to comply with anti-money laundering rules in the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. Most UK trusts, and some non-UK trusts with UK links, must be registered on it, whether or not they pay any tax. Registration is the job of the trustees, through a nominated lead trustee or an agent. Source: gov.uk, Check if you need to register a trust.

The Trust Registration Service, usually called the TRS, is HMRC’s register of trusts. If you have become a trustee, perhaps because someone close to you died and their will left money in trust, it is one of the first administrative jobs that may fall to you. It is also one of the easiest to miss, because nothing about it is automatic and HMRC will not remind you before a deadline.

The good news is that a lot of trusts that arise after a death are excluded, or at least have two years’ breathing space. This guide explains who has to register, when, how to do it, and what happens if a deadline slips.

The short version:

Most UK trusts must register on the TRS, even if they pay no tax, under anti-money laundering rules
A will trust that only holds estate assets has two years from the date of death before it needs registering, unless it becomes taxable first
Trusts for bereaved minors and 18-to-25 trusts set up by a parent’s will are excluded, as are life insurance trusts that pay out only on death, illness or disability, pension scheme trusts and trusts set up to open a child’s bank account
Every exclusion stops applying if the trust becomes liable to UK tax
The usual deadline is 90 days from the trust being created or becoming liable to tax
Changes must be updated within 90 days, and taxable trusts must confirm their details every year by 31 January
HMRC can charge a £5,000 penalty, but says it will not if you put things right within the time limit it sets

What the Trust Registration Service is

The TRS is an online register run by HMRC. It records who is behind a trust: the trustees, the settlor (the person who put assets in), the beneficiaries and anyone else with control. gov.uk explains that registration is required “to make sure you and the trust comply with anti-money laundering regulations” (gov.uk – Check if you need to register a trust).

The legal duty comes from regulation 45 and Schedule 3A of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. Regulation 45 requires HMRC to keep the register; Schedule 3A lists the trusts that are excluded from it.

The TRS also doubles as the way a taxable trust gets a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) so that the trustees can file Self Assessment trust tax returns.

Who must register a trust

There are two routes into registration, and a trust only needs to meet one of them.

Taxable trusts. gov.uk says you must register a UK resident trust if it is liable for any of these taxes on UK assets or income:

Capital Gains Tax
Income Tax
Inheritance Tax
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland)
Land Transaction Tax (Wales)

If a relief already covers the liability, the trust still needs registering if the relief has to be claimed through a Self Assessment return.

Non-taxable trusts. Since 6 October 2020, gov.uk says that “all UK resident express trusts” must register even with no tax to pay, unless they are excluded under Schedule 3A. An express trust is one that someone set up deliberately, usually in a trust deed or a will. Some non-UK trusts with UK links must also register, for example those that buy UK land or property.

The registration is done by the trustees. gov.uk says all trustees are “equally legally responsible for the trust”, but they must nominate one lead trustee who registers the trust and keeps the details up to date, either personally or through an agent (gov.uk – Register a trust).

Trusts that do not need to register

gov.uk lists a long set of Schedule 3A exclusions. These are the ones most likely to matter to a family after a death. Each exclusion falls away if the trust becomes liable to UK tax.

Type of trust	Needs to register?
Will trust holding only estate assets	Not for two years from the date of death. If still running after that, yes, within 90 days
Trust created by a deed of variation	Not for two years from the date of the original death
Trust for a bereaved minor, where a child under 18 who has lost a parent inherits outright by 18 (s.71A Inheritance Tax Act 1984)	No
18-to-25 trust, where the child inherits outright by 25 (s.71D Inheritance Tax Act 1984)	No
Statutory trust arising under the intestacy rules	No
Life insurance policy in trust that only pays out on death, illness or disability	No
Trust holding a registered pension scheme’s money or assets	No
Trust set up to open a bank account for a child	No
Co-ownership trust (property owned as tenants in common by the same people who are trustees)	No. If one co-owner dies, not for two years from that death
Small trust: no UK land, assets under £2,000, never held over £10,000 in total, income under £5,000 a year, no tax liability	No (one such trust per settlor)
Discretionary or life interest trust that continues long-term	Yes
Bare trust that is an express trust (unless another exclusion applies)	Generally yes

Sources: gov.uk – Check if you need to register a trust; HMRC Trust Registration Service Manual TRSM23020; TRSM10030.

HMRC’s manual explains why the two-year windows exist. Some trusts arising on a death are excluded “either as a general rule or temporarily, allowing that person’s estate to be managed without creating additional administration requirements” (TRSM23020). Trusts created under the intestacy rules are statutory trusts imposed by law, so the manual says they “are not registrable express trusts”.

If you are unsure whether an arrangement is a trust at all, or whether it must be registered, gov.uk suggests checking with “a solicitor, accountant, financial adviser or other professional adviser”.

Will trusts and the two-year rule

This is the rule that affects most bereaved families. When a will leaves money or property on trust, the trust exists from the date of death. HMRC’s manual says an express trust created by a will that “holds only property from the estate of the deceased person is excluded from registration for a period of two years” (TRSM23020).

In practice:

A trust that is wound up within two years of the death, with everything passed to the beneficiaries, never needs registering
A trust designed to last, such as a discretionary trust or a life interest trust for a surviving spouse, must register “within 90 days of the two-year anniversary of the death”, in the words of HMRC’s manual, unless another exclusion in the table above applies
A trust that becomes liable to tax before then has to be registered as a taxable trust under the usual deadlines

The same two-year window applies to a trust created by a deed of variation, measured from the date of the original death, and to a co-ownership trust over a jointly owned home where one of the owners has died. Executors (who sort out the estate) and trustees (who look after the trust afterwards) are often the same people, but the TRS duty belongs to the trustees. Whichever role you hold, put the second anniversary of the death in your diary. Our guide to executor duties covers the estate side. For more on how will trusts work, see our guide to a trust in a will.

Deadlines for registering a trust

gov.uk sets the following deadlines (gov.uk – Check if you need to register a trust).

Situation	Deadline
Non-taxable trust created after 6 October 2020	Within 90 days of being created or becoming liable for tax
Non-taxable trust created before 6 October 2020	The deadline was 1 September 2022
Taxable trust created on or after 6 April 2021	Within 90 days of becoming liable for tax
Older trust, liable to Income Tax or CGT for the first time	By 5 October after the end of the tax year in which it first had income or gains and became liable
Older trust that has paid Income Tax or CGT before	By 31 January after the end of the tax year in which it had income or gains and was liable
Older trust liable to another tax, such as Inheritance Tax	By 31 January after the end of the tax year in which the liability arose

For a trust created by a recent death, the first and third rows are the ones that matter. HMRC’s manual says a will trust still running at the two-year point must register “within 90 days of the two-year anniversary of the death” (TRSM23020). One that becomes taxable sooner falls under the 90-day rule for taxable trusts. The rows for older trusts apply to trusts set up before April 2021.

What has changed

The TRS has existed since 2017. For its first few years it only covered trusts with a tax liability. On 6 October 2020 the rules were extended to most UK express trusts whether or not they pay tax, and existing non-taxable trusts had until 1 September 2022 to register. That expansion is why many families with small or dormant trusts first heard of the TRS.

The most recent change concerns trusts based outside the UK. HMRC guidance published on 30 June 2026 says non-UK trusts that acquired an interest in UK land before 6 October 2020, and still held it on 30 June 2026, must register by 1 September 2027. HMRC adds that the online service cannot yet accept these registrations and that it will announce when it can. If the trust you are dealing with is a UK trust set up by a will, this change does not apply to it.

What you need to register a trust

The information must match official documents, such as the trust deed or will, passports, birth and marriage certificates. You will need (gov.uk – Register a trust):

The trust’s name (up to 53 characters) and the date it was created. For a will trust, if you do not know when assets first went in, you can give the date of the settlor’s death
Lead trustee details: name, date of birth, address, National Insurance number (if UK resident), email and phone
The settlor’s details, including for someone who has died their last address, National Insurance number and date of death
Every other trustee and any protector
All known beneficiaries, named individually where possible, or as a class (for example “future grandchildren of the settlor”)
For taxable trusts, the type of trust, how it was set up and details and values of its assets, such as property, shares and cash

Some questions let you carry on without an answer, but any missing information “must be given within 90 days of the trust being registered”.

How to register a trust step by step

Check the trust has to register using the exclusions above and gov.uk’s checker page.
Agree who the lead trustee is. They will receive all TRS correspondence.
Create an Organisation Government Gateway account. gov.uk is clear that “you cannot use an Individual Government Gateway user ID and password to register a trust”, and each trust needs its own organisation ID. You can create one during registration by choosing “Organisation” after setting your password.
Register online using the “Register now” button on gov.uk’s Register a trust page. You can save your progress for up to 28 days.
Get your reference. A taxable trust receives a UTR, usually within 15 working days. A non-taxable trust gets a Unique Reference Number (URN) by signing back into the service after submitting.
Download proof of registration. You must sign out and back in to get it, and the declaration document is not accepted as proof. Banks, investment platforms and solicitors often ask for it.

If you would prefer a professional to do this, they must be registered as an agent with an agent services account.

Keeping the register up to date and closing a trust

Registration is ongoing. gov.uk says changes to a non-taxable trust “must be reported to HMRC within 90 days of them occurring”. A taxable trust must “declare it is up to date every year by 31 January”, and report changes to a beneficial owner’s name, date of birth, residence or nationality within 90 days (gov.uk – Manage your trust’s details).

When a trust ends, for example when a child beneficiary reaches the age set in the will and the trustees hand everything over, the trust has to be closed on the online service. gov.uk asks trustees not to write to HMRC to say the trust has ended. You may also need a final tax return for the year the trust ended.

Penalties for not registering

gov.uk says that if trustees fail to register a trust or keep its information up to date within the time limit, “HMRC can charge you a fixed penalty of £5,000”. No interest is charged on penalties (gov.uk – When HMRC will issue a penalty charge).

The same page takes a measured approach. HMRC recognises “that trustees may not be familiar with the process” and says it will not charge a penalty if it finds a failure, “as long as you take action to correct this within the time limit we set”. If HMRC discovers an unregistered trust or out-of-date details, it sends a letter explaining what to do and by when. Penalties are issued case by case, and you can ask for a review or appeal if you disagree.

If you have just realised a trust should have been registered, register it now. Putting it right yourself before HMRC writes to you leaves you in the strongest position.

Where to get help

Lay trustees can register a simple trust themselves using the online service. Get advice from a solicitor, accountant or chartered tax adviser if the trust holds property or investments, might be taxable, has beneficiaries abroad, or if you are unsure whether it is excluded. For the wider tax picture, see our guides to inheritance tax exemptions and reliefs, bare trusts and the inheritance tax hub.

Last verified 18 October 2026.