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The short answer is absolutely yes.

Even if they are not a default beneficiary the rules of a Discretionary Trust state that the trustees do have the power to pass assets outside of the named beneficiaries, provided that they do it as loans to that surviving spouse.

When the surviving spouse dies, all the money that has been passed out to that surviving spouse is repaid back to the trust and then goes on to benefit the remaining named beneficiaries.

During their lifetime surviving spouses can be maintained by the trust, but then the capital is repayable. If there is insufficient capital, then it just means the Trust has made a decision that meant that the children are disadvantaged.

There's no real difference eventual to your children leaving the money to your surviving spouse, but by using a Trust, there are ongoing protections that are very useful in retaining the wealth for the benefit of future generations.

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