Wills · 9 min read · Published 6 March 2026 · Updated 11 June 2026

Protecting your Bridlington property: trusts, wills, and the family home in East Yorkshire

Your home is probably your most valuable asset. This guide explains how wills and trusts can protect it for your family. It also covers the pitfalls to watch for in East Yorkshire.

By Aaron Johnson, Consultant Solicitor and TEP, a solicitor in Bridlington who writes every guide himself.

This guide is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Each case is assessed on its own merits.

Guides · Wills · No. 15 of 18Reviewed 11 June 2026 · 9 minutes

Protecting your Bridlington property

Your home, your legacy

For most families in Bridlington and across the East Riding, the home is the most valuable thing they own. It may be a terrace in the Old Town or a bungalow in the Queensgate Extensions. It may be a cottage in Flamborough or Bempton, or a newer house on one of the estates. It represents a lifetime of work.

Wanting it to pass to the right people, your children and grandchildren, is natural. It is one of the most common reasons people contact Safe Harbour Legal.

Protecting your home takes more than a will. How the property is owned, the type of will and whether a trust is right for you all matter. Getting it wrong can affect your family for generations.

How property ownership affects your estate plan

Start with how you and your partner own your home. In England and Wales there are two forms of joint ownership, and the difference matters.

If you own your home as joint tenants, your share passes automatically to the other owner when you die, whatever your will says. This is called "survivorship" and it overrides any will or trust. For many couples that is fine.

If you want to protect your share, for example so that it reaches your children rather than your partner's future spouse, you may need to "sever" the joint tenancy. That turns you into tenants in common. Each of you then owns a defined share, and that share can be dealt with in your will, including by putting it into a trust.

Severing a joint tenancy is a simple legal step, but it must be done properly and with an eye on the rest of your estate plan. Aaron charges a separate fixed fee for it, listed on the fees page.

Life interest trusts: the most common protection

The most common way to protect the family home is a life interest trust written into your will. It works like this.

On the first death, the deceased's share of the home goes into a trust. The surviving partner is the "life tenant": they have the right to live in the home for the rest of their life. When they die, the trust passes the share to the final beneficiaries, usually the children.

The survivor keeps a roof over their head. The deceased's share is protected from remarriage, new partners, creditors and other risks.

This matters most where one or both partners have children from an earlier relationship. Without protection, the intestacy rules or a simple mirror will can send your share of the home to people you never meant to benefit.

Where does your half of the home go?

A will trust for a blended family, shown one step at a time.

See how it works

Care fees: what a trust can and cannot do

Many people in East Yorkshire worry that their home will be used to pay for residential care. Care home fees are high, and the thought of losing the family home is distressing.

Some firms have sold "asset protection trusts" claiming they shield the home from care fee assessments. Regulators, consumer groups and Age UK have criticised many of these products. Several of the companies that sold them have since closed.

A council can look through a transfer into a trust and treat it as a "deliberate deprivation of assets" if avoiding paying for care was a significant reason for it. It need not be the only or main reason. There is no fixed time limit on when the council can do this. If that happens, the council assesses your finances as though the transfer never took place.

That does not mean trusts are never right. A trust set up for genuine estate planning reasons, such as protecting assets in a blended family, providing for a vulnerable beneficiary or managing inheritance tax, stands on much firmer ground. Avoiding care fees alone is not a sound basis for a trust, and a solicitor who says otherwise is not giving honest advice.

Aaron will say plainly what a trust can and cannot achieve, rather than sell a product that may fail.

The tall stone tower of All Saints' Church in Preston, with two clock faces, beside an autumn tree

Local considerations

Bridlington's property market has features that affect estate planning.

Holiday properties and chalets. Many residents own holiday lets, seaside chalets or caravan park homes. Planning restrictions can affect their value and how they are treated in your estate. Make sure your will and estate plan cover them.

Mixed-use properties. Some Bridlington properties have a shop, guest house or café on the ground floor with a flat above. These raise questions about business property relief, valuation and the practical side of administering the estate.

Properties in need of repair. Some older properties in the town need a lot of work. If you leave a property in your will, think about whether the beneficiary can afford to keep it up. A discretionary trust giving your trustees flexibility might suit better. But a home left on discretionary trust may not qualify for the residence nil-rate band, so the tax cost needs checking.

Every fee for this work, what happens in order and how a home visit is arranged are on Aaron’s page as a wills solicitor in Bridlington.

Getting your property plan right

Start with a conversation. Bring your questions, your worries and your family circumstances. The answer may be simple, or you may need something more involved. Either way, the first step is to ask.

Aaron Johnson is a solicitor and TEP based in Bridlington. TEP means a full member of STEP, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. He knows the local property market and the concerns of local families.

This guide is intended as general legal information and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects the law in England, and some rules differ elsewhere in the UK. Take advice on your own circumstances before acting on it. Safe Harbour Legal and Legal Studio Solicitors are trading names of MDLS Solicitors Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA ID 598793).

Sources

The official pages behind the rules this guide explains. Each was checked on 3 November 2026.

Written by Aaron Johnson, Consultant Solicitor and TEP · Law of England and Wales as at 11 June 2026 · Ends

Questions people ask about this.

General answers for England and Wales. What applies to you depends on your circumstances.

Is my Bridlington home at risk from care home fees?
If you need residential care, the council carries out a financial assessment. The value of your home may count after a 12-week disregard period, or longer if a qualifying person still lives there. There are legitimate planning steps, but they must be genuine. A council can challenge a gift or transfer if avoiding care fees was a significant reason for it. A solicitor can explain your options honestly.

Should I put my Bridlington house in a trust?
It depends on your circumstances. A trust can protect your property, for example against sideways inheritance in a blended family. But trusts bring costs, tax consequences and ongoing administration. A home put into a lifetime trust while you live there rent-free usually stays in your estate for inheritance tax. They are not a magic solution and should only be set up for genuine reasons, with professional advice.

What is "tenants in common" and why does it matter for Bridlington homeowners?
As tenants in common, each of you owns a defined share that can be dealt with separately in your will, for example by putting it into a trust. As joint tenants, the property passes automatically to the survivor whatever your will says. Severing a joint tenancy to become tenants in common is a straightforward legal step that Aaron can handle.

Are property values in Bridlington relevant to inheritance tax?
Yes. Many Bridlington homes are below the inheritance tax threshold on their own, but your estate includes everything you own: property, savings, investments, some pensions and possessions. For deaths on or after 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits will also count. Added together, many local estates are closer to the threshold than people expect, especially for single people. An extra residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 may apply when a home passes to direct descendants, such as children, step-children or grandchildren. A widow, widower or surviving civil partner can often add any of these allowances their late spouse or civil partner did not use.

I own a holiday let in Bridlington. How does that affect my estate plan?
A holiday let is part of your estate for inheritance tax and may need a specialist valuation, especially if planning restrictions limit its use. It will also need to be dealt with in probate. Including it in your estate plan means your executors know what to do with it and any tax is dealt with properly.

Can I protect my home for my children from a previous relationship?
Usually, yes, as long as your share of the home passes under your will. If you and your partner own it as joint tenants, it passes to your partner automatically. The joint tenancy would first need to be severed during your lifetime. A life interest trust in your will can then give the surviving partner the right to live in the property for life, while your share passes to your children afterwards. It is one of the most effective ways to prevent sideways inheritance in a blended family. Your surviving partner may still be able to make a claim against your estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Next step

Ready when you are.

Sixty seconds of questions that end on a named plan and a fixed fee, with VAT.

Or call 01262 310 850, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm.

Appointments are usually available within a few working days, including Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and home visits across East and North Yorkshire.

Important

This guide contains general information about the law of England and Wales as at June 2026. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on in place of advice on your own circumstances. Wills, inheritance and intestacy law change often; check any specific point before acting on it. Outcomes for any one person depend on their facts, the documents, and decisions taken by HMRC, the courts and others. Fees shown are fixed once agreed in writing, before any work starts. Safe Harbour Legal and Legal Studio Solicitors are trading names of MDLS Solicitors Limited (company number 08599445), authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA 598793. The complaints procedure is at legalstudio.co.uk/sra-complaints (Legal Studio's website).