The CII J02 September 2025 Exam in Review

Here, we take a look at the exam paper for J02, the exam that sits in the Diploma in Financial Planning and covers trusts – useful for those preparing to sit the next J02 exam.

This article is correct as at 4 December 2025. 

You can find the exam guide here.*

Two hours are allowed for the J02 paper which is made up of 15 short answer questions and carries a total of 130 marks.

Question 1

The exam started with a question asking how a trust is created in a Will when an asset is left to a minor. This was for eight marks and may have caused some concern for a first question in terms of the level of detail required.

Question 2

The second question was in two parts and initially asked for three ways a trustee can be initially appointed when a trust is created, and in part (b) for four marks, the powers of the Appointor of a trust. Overall this was a nice question and candidates should have scored well.

Question 3

Next, candidates had to describe the tax benefits of an immediate post-death interest trust (IPDI) compared to a discretionary Will trust. This was for six marks and with these trusts becoming more and more popular, should have formed part of any revision plan resulting in, we hope, the majority of marks being achieved.

Question 4

Candidates then had to describe the requirements for a valid trust according to the Knight v Knight (1840) ruling. This was for six marks and as the question has been asked numerous times in the past it should have been a reasonably high scorer.

Question 5

This question asked for a description of an express trust (for four marks) and in part (b) for another four marks, an explanation of who registers a non-taxable express trust with the TRS, and when. This was quite a tough question and for those that had not studied the syllabus in full, they may have struggled with achieving the full eight marks on offer.

Question 6

Next, came a question on how a trust may be varied under section 57 of the Trustee Act 1925. This is quite a technical area of the syllabus and perhaps not all six marks would have been attained by the majority of candidates.

Question 7

This question was for 12 marks in total; firstly a description of the main duties of an attorney appointed under an LPA was required and secondly the implications if an attorney is in breach of their duties. Although powers of attorney are usually tested within this exam, often the finer detail isn’t there to score well.

Question 8

In this question, we were introduced to Pablo. He was a beneficiary of his deceased father’s Will and wanted to leave his inheritance to his two children instead. Candidates had to describe the conditions for a disclaimer to be effective for IHT (this was for six marks) and then for four more marks, outline the drawbacks of disclaiming the inheritance compared to using a deed of variation.  Will planning does of course regularly appear in the J02 exam and the differences between disclaimers and deeds of variation have often been tested.

Question 9

Candidates then had to explain how the Will of a deceased person can be challenged under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and in part (b) an explanation was needed of the potential drawbacks to a person challenging a Will. Again this is a technical part of the syllabus and for a total of eight marks may have proved challenging for some.

Question 10

In Question 10, we met Julian who had recently been declared bankrupt. He had a whole of life policy with a surrender value of £10,000, not held under trust. Firstly, candidates had to explain the effect of Julian’s bankruptcy on his policy (for three marks) and for a further five marks explain the effect if the policy had been held under an MWPA Trust.

Question 11

This question firstly required candidates to carry out a calculation of the CGT payable when trustees dispose of unit trusts in a discretionary trust. This was for six marks and in part (b) for another six marks, the exam asked for the benefits if the trustees had transferred the trust assets to the beneficiaries prior to the disposal. Calculations can often score well with marks available for information in the tax table such as the annual exempt amount. Holdover relief has also been tested in the past so hopefully candidates will have done well on both parts here.

Question 12

This question also covered trust taxation; firstly, candidates had to explain how an exit charge is calculated when capital is distributed to grandchildren. And in part (b) for three further marks, an explanation was needed of who is responsible for paying the exit charge and when.

Exit charges have of course been tested before but not often as an explanation. Also the timescale of when an exit charge has to be paid is not often tested either.

Question 13

This question asked how a trust operates within a defined benefit pension scheme. This was for six marks and may have caused some difficulties with the level of detail needed.  In part (b) the current IHT treatment of the lump sum death benefit payable from a defined benefit scheme was tested. With taxation of pensions having been headline news for some time the current position of them being IHT free we hope would have been generally known.

Question 14

This question asked for the benefits and drawbacks of using a discounted gift trust for IHT planning. This has certainly been asked before and for a total of 12 marks, we hope candidates used their knowledge and studying of past exam guides to achieve good marks.

Question 15

The final question tested the Saunders v Vautier rules and as these have appeared in past exams numerous times, we hope candidates found it a nice seven marks to end the exam with.

Comparison with the February 2025 Exam Paper

If we look at what was tested in February 2025’s paper, we can see if there has been any overlap. This exam guide can be found here.*

The topics covered were:

• Non-tax related reasons for creating a trust.
• Charging for services as trustee and expenses
• Joint tenancy and tenants in common
• Differences between non-statutory and statutory trusts
• Bare trusts
• MWPA Trusts
• General powers of investment
• How it is determined that a trust is UK resident for tax
• Court of Protection
• Impact of divorce on existing Will
• Duties of an executor
• Calculation of Income Tax on a discretionary trust
• Taxation of an onshore investment bond
• Life insurance policies and the IRC v Rysaffe Trustee Company ruling
• Factors which may cause the investment policy of a trust to be reviewed

The September paper does seem to have tested some challenging areas within the syllabus with many technical details tested and with only one small calculation.

Those candidates who have done well will have studied the entire syllabus and made sure they had the necessary knowledge on the main trusts used, the taxation of them as well as the finer trust laws, Will planning, and bankruptcy.

There’s a lot to learn and future candidates should be fully aware that in order to achieve a pass, the studying and hard work has to be committed to beforehand.

Grab the resources you need!

If you’re studying for your CII J02 exam, and you want to be thoroughly prepared, grab our free taster to try out one of Brand Financial Training’s resources for yourself. Click the link to download the J02 mock paper taster now!

* The CII has updated their retention policy and now only provides the last two exam papers. Older papers referenced in this article may no longer be available on the CII website.