Trustee privacy policy

Purpose of policy

This policy describes how RSM UK Tax and Accounting Limited and RSM Legal LLP (together “the Firm”) and Office-Holders (defined below) collect and process your personal data in the provision of their services (together “we”).

In this policy:

An “Office-Holder” is a consultant, partner or employee of the Firm acting in his/her capacity as a:

Trustee of a trust.
Personal Representative (Executor or Administrator) of an estate.

It is important that you read this policy together with any other privacy policy/notice or fair processing notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing your or our clients’ personal data. This policy supplements the other policies/notices, and our Terms and Conditions of Business, and is not intended to override them.

We may change the terms of this policy from time to time. This version is dated 1 April 2021.

Data Controller and Privacy Officer

Depending on the circumstances, the data controller may be any of the following:

The Office-Holder, where he/she has collected and processed data pursuant to his/her duties under the relevant applicable legislation and the provisions of the trust deed and any ancillary deeds and documents (the “Trust”) or will and any codicil and/or any ancillary documents (the “Will”). If you do not already hold contact details for the Office-Holder, he/she may be contacted via david.punt@rsmuk.com.
RSM UK Tax and Accounting Limited and RSM Legal LLP where those entities are engaged to provide services to you. The relevant entity may be contacted via david.punt@rsmuk.com.

RSM has appointed a Privacy Officer to deal with questions relating to this policy who can be contacted at: david.punt@rsmuk.com.

The data we collect about you

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you as follows:

Identity Data includes, in relation to you or a family member, first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier; marital status; title; date of birth; gender; data contained on a passport, photocard driving licence or other identity card; and data contained in photographs, videos and CCTV images.
Contact Data includes home address and billing address (if different), email address and telephone numbers.
Financial Data includes income, personal expenditure, charitable donations, taxation and other financial-related details; investments and other financial interests; bank account and payment card details; pension details; and data relating to the membership of professional bodies.
Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you and other details of products and services you have purchased from us.
Profile Data includes your username and password, your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses.
Usage Data includes information about how you use our products and services.
Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing material from us and your communication preferences as well as usage information through email web beacons.

We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this policy.

We may collect special categories of personal data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). We may also collect information about criminal convictions and offences.

How is your personal data collected?

Your personal data may be collected from the following sources:

Questionnaires completed by you and others and returned to the Firm.
Correspondence between you and the Firm.
Notes from meetings held between you and the Firm’s staff.
Information provided to the Firm by third parties in relation to an appointment.
Information held in the public domain (for example, at the Probate Registry, Companies House and the Land Registry).

You may also give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:

engage us to provide services;
subscribe to our publications;
request marketing material to be sent to you;
enter a competition, promotion or survey;
complete one of our enquiry forms; or
provide us with feedback.

Other data controllers (including clients) may also provide your personal data to us.

How we use your personal data

The precise way in which your personal data is used will depend on the basis on which you interact with the Firm. The most common examples are set out below.

I am a beneficiary of the trust or estate over which the Office-Holder has been appointed

Your personal data is used primarily to fulfil the Office-Holder’s duties under the relevant applicable legislation and the provisions of the Trust Deed or Will.

Your personal data will be used for the following purposes:

To administer the trust or estate.
To make enquiries of and ascertain your entitlement to distributions from the trust or estate.
To allow us to assist you in accounting to HM Revenue and Customs for distributions received.

I am a Settlor of the trust or co-Trustee of the trust or estate over which the Office-Holder has been appointed

Your personal data is used primarily to fulfil the Office-Holder’s duties under the relevant applicable legislation and the provisions of the Trust Deed or Will.

Change of purpose

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to receive an explanation as to how processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact our Privacy Officer at: david.punt@rsmuk.com.

Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent where this is required or permitted by law.

Disclosure of your personal data

We do not sell, distribute or otherwise make personal data commercially available to any party, except as described in this policy or with your prior permission.

An Office-Holder has a legal obligation, in certain circumstances, to disclose personal data to:

His/her regulatory body.
The Secretary of State.
The Probate Registry.

An Office-Holder/the Firm may also be under an obligation to provide your personal data to other third parties who have a statutory right to request it (for example, HMRC) or who have obtained an appropriate court order.

We may also have to share your personal data with:

Other RSM Entities (defined as RSM UK Holdings Limited and persons, bodies corporate or partnerships controlled (directly or indirectly) by it).
Other firms within the RSM global network.
Our auditors, insurers or a competent governmental or regulatory body.
Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. Any new owners of our business may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.
Third party service providers.
Another third party if our client lawfully instructs us to do so, including the parent entity of an audit client and/or its auditor pursuant to ISA 600.
Owners of our clients, including shareholders.
Our clients’ funders.

Protection of your personal data

We take the security of the personal data we hold seriously. Policies and procedures are in place to safeguard it from loss, misuse and improper disclosure.

We also have procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

All our third-party service providers and other RSM Entities are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal information for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal information for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

To the extent that the processing of personal data involves the transfer of such data to a territory that does not provide an adequate level of protection, we shall implement appropriate safeguards in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. You may request details of any safeguards implemented from our Privacy Officer at: david.punt@rsmuk.com.

For how long will we use your personal data?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, regulatory or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider:

the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the data;
the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of the data;
the purposes for which we process the data; and
the applicable legal requirements.

Personal data will generally be held for no longer than 7 years after the closure of an appointment, unless otherwise prescribed by law or regulation.

If you have opted out of receiving future publications from us, your contact details will remain on our opt-out list to prevent you from receiving any further publications from us.

Your legal rights

We assume responsibility for keeping an accurate record of personal data once you have submitted the information. Please inform us of any changes to your information.

You are entitled to:

Request access to your personal data.
Request the correction or erasure of your personal data.
Object to the processing of your personal data.
Request a restriction of processing of your personal data.
Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party.
Withdraw consent at any time, where we are relying on consent to process your personal data.

To exercise any of the above rights please contact our Privacy Officer at: david.punt@rsmuk.com.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us to confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies. For more information please see our cookie policy.

Third party websites and social media platforms

We are not responsible for the privacy policies of third party websites or social media platforms to which links may be provided via our website. You should check the privacy policy of the relevant third party before providing any information.

You may wish to participate in the various social media platforms hosted by us. However, we do not accept any responsibility for any personal information that you share on such platforms that is subsequently used, misused or otherwise appropriated by another user.

Complaints

If you are concerned about an alleged breach of privacy law or any other regulation by us please contact our Privacy Officer who will ensure that your complaint is investigated.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.

EEA Data Protection Representative

As we are not established in the EEA we have appointed a data protection representative within the EEA: RSM Ireland Business Advisory Limited t/a RSM Ireland Limited, a company incorporated in the Republic of Ireland (Company Number 506769). You can contact our EEA data protection representative by:

writing to the Privacy Officer at RSM Ireland, Trinity House, Charleston Rd, Dublin 6, Republic of Ireland; or
sending an email to dataprivacy@rsmireland.ie

To view the relevant policy please click on the links below:

RSM Entities' privacy policy
RSM Restructuring privacy policy
RSM UK Group website privacy policy
RSM UK Group website cookie policy
RSM recruitment privacy policy

RSM Trustee and personal representative privacy policy