I have no objection to individuals legally minimising their tax but hiding your stash to be able to claim benefits is going too far to my mind.
I have not and will not hide anything from either HMRC or the DWP.
Having capital in a Discretionary Trust means that it legally does not belong to anyone other than the Trust itself and is operated by the Trustees.
If I was stupid enough to gift my capital to such a trust for the benefit of only my children and their children so be it. It is no longer my money, I have no legal right to it, I gave it away years ago as I had no use of it.
Part (a very substantial part) was a payment as compensation for injuries sustained. Then we down sized which released further capital that we had no need of.
It is there for my future family for when I am long gone.
Put bluntly we don't need anymore than what we have - £10,000 in a bond which is there to bury us both when the time comes. We live on our various incomes - there is nothing else that we would need money for.
To suggest that there is something dodgy is far from the mark.