My kids have an inheritance they can’t access until they’re 30. Is there anything they can do to move it back?

[lightgreen]

My mum left both my teenage kids 40k each.

The will stipulates it should remain in trust until they’re 30.

The executor of the will is her husband (not my dad) and I barely know him. He’s not told me anything about how it is invested and I had to get a copy of the will myself to see what was what because it all felt a bit awkward when he was in bits to talk about money. I’m not really in contact with him - there’s no problem, I’ve just only met him a few times and he lives hundreds of miles away.

Does he have the right to release it early? Would it be rude/wrong/unethical to ask him to overrule what my mum stipulated? Even a few thousand of it would help them so much with university, but asking a stranger for money feels wrong, even if it is theirs. I would love to know if it’s invested - with the time frame I’d hope it was all in stocks with very little bonds and cash, but it’s none of my business. Should they just leave it?

There is a handy link so that you can read all of an OP's posts on a long thread before responding.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4720499-my-kids-have-an-inheritance-they-cant-access-until-theyre-30-is-there-anything-they-can-do-to-move-it-back?postsby=lightgreen

If you read the OP's posts you will see that the children are minors, the DM has been dead for over four years and the OP is not quite clear if its a trust or a bequest from a will.

I'd hazard a guess that the OP is also better placed than we are to understand what was "clearly" in her DM's mind or what she would have put in the spirit of the (possible) trust.

I also think it's better to have an inheritance later. Less likely to fritter it away and more likely for it to make a real difference by then.
That, of course, is if it is adequately invested now.

I understand why you'd like early release of the funds but I'm not sure that's possible unless you can ask the executor and they agree. However, for me this wouldn't be the key issue - I think your DCs should identify where the money is, who will be transferring it and how it is currently invested. That to me seems more important rather than asking for early release.

When my kids inherited I had to sign Declarations of trust for them as they were under 18. With my adult son the solicitor contacted him directly. The will does stipulate it’s for when they’re 25 but I have the money for the younger ones already from the solicitor and the eldest got his. The money will be with the solicitor not your mum’s husband

Yes, OP it does smart to put your kids through university. Try to reframe the way you look at this: You're lucky enough to have two brainy children who have been offered a wonderful opportunity to continue in education, funded by interest free loans.

They will have to find PT work and you'll have to pull your belt in, just like all of us.

I think you are foolish to spend their house deposit money on this instead of stumping up the money yourself and possibly grabby. I also feel that you should respect your mum's final wishes.

Is parents paying for uni really a thing in the real world or is this a MN issue?! I moved out at 19 and got through two degrees using loans and 2-3 PT jobs at a time, full time work all summer. Why do you have to find £750 a month per child? 🤷🏻‍♀️Most of my friends/colleagues are similar to me and just worked their way through.

Inheritance wise, I agree with those who have said that your Mum said 30, so they inherit at 30.

Back in the day we didn't have to pay tuition fees of 9K

Best option would be for them to work Full Time between finishing school & first year of uni (i.e. defer uni start date by a year. If they’ve applied & been accepted at a particular uni, then won’t lose their place if they defer for a year).

During this “year out” for work, they could at home (rent & bills free) and safe every penny of their wages. Assuming they are paid a salary of approx. £1,200 a month each, they’ll have about £14,500 ish by the time they’re ready to start uni. That’ll make up for the shortfall of £4,500 per year each.

They’ll be a year older than some students that start uni, but they will by no means be in the minority. So many people start uni at 19+ (I did) and they’re generally that tad more mature, and hopefully will bring their experience of work with them, which means they might even do better at their studies.

I wouldn’t waste inheritance money on studies when far better options are available. It’s best they get it at 30 and use it as a deposit for a property.

Sorry @LakieLady I replied to your post by mistake. I was meaning to reply to @lightgreen

I think a few people might not appreciate how the living cost bit works now. This has nothing to do with tuition fees. . It has changed. This Martin Lewis video is short and a good explanation.

They will take 100% of the loans they are entitled to.

i don’t even object to the policy. I’m more than happy to pay my bit. What it doesn’t take into account is two students studying simultaneously. And we’re close to the full 50% cut for both of them. Please do watch it - this is fairly new.

I also have 2 kids at university. they get half the maintenance loan each and take out the full tuition loan. As a parent, it's tough luck! We have to pay!

As the minimum wage for an 18 yo is £7.49 ph (from April) they would need to work 100 hours per month! That’s a lot for a full time student, especially studying a STEM subject.

Out of interest, which year in the 90’s was this? 😂

It’s a bit of a false economy to leave that sum to your GC but keep it locked away depreciating in value, 30 is an odd age to stipulate. By 25 risk taking behaviour stops, those 5 years are just letting money drain away.

Thanks @lightgreen for the video.

It’s very informative & having watched it, I think it’s all the more reasons for parents and children starting to head to uni to consider deferring their start date by one academic year, and utilising that year to work and put money aside for when they start their degree.

As someone who’s been in the higher education sector for 20 years (both as student and employee) deferring for a year for a good reason (e.g. saving money, doing internship, getting work experience) is generally a good thing and has a very positive impact on both their academic results and their mental health. Those who have to juggle lots of work with studying, or multiple jobs with studying, will obviously have less time to study, so unless they’re very disciplined and good at working “smarter” than others, then obviously this will impact their academic performance.

Moreover, taking a year out before start of uni to work means they’ll appreciate every penny earned and saved during that year even more. They’ll be more cautious spending it at uni.

Lots of parents have two at uni at the same time - it's not new or unusual. You have a couple of years and seem to be ok to afford one - so start squirrelling away a few hundred a month now so you have something to dip into to fund the second dc.

Sigh....

Parents have ALWAYS been expected to pay maintenance if their household income was over a certain threshold. Not new. Not MN world.

Back in the day we didn't have to pay tuition fees of 9K

Back in the the day (whenever “the day” was), far fewer people went to university.

There are degrees and degrees. Was yours an arts degree?

One DC did a full science degree at a top uni. This included lab work and following up experiments at weekends, or late into the evening. Unlike other courses they didn't get any free days of the week for 'reading'.

It was impossible for them to take on evening or weekend work, although they did work during the holidays.

And, as PP says, parents have always had to contribute to costs if they have income over a certain level.

When my DCs were at uni, the cost of the accommodation PLUS minimum living costs could not be covered by their loan.

The only students I knew of who worked when at uni, were ones doing courses that were not demanding, didn't need weekend attendance, and were definitely not a science degree.

@titchy my parents earned over the threshold. I got a loan only, no grants. I paid it back once I was in full time work: they did not pay for me because I was an adult!

@OhMonDieux LLB undergrad in Law, first class honours, followed by Education post grad. But keep that bias strong 😅

Back in the day students didn't even get the basic loan if their parents earned over the threshold. So you did get a maintenance loan, but presumably it was enough. Good job if your parents didn't support you as they should have!

Nowhereelsetogo90

that’s how it worked in my day too. It’s changed now though I’m afraid.

@titchy maybe depends where you live? I got a student loan of around £200 a month during my undergrad. I also worked 6pm-1am 5 days a week, a Saturday night nightshift, Sunday off. Then full time in holidays. I wanted to be independent - my parents earned just over the threshold and were struggling to pay back debt etc that came from trying to give us a good childhood despite illnesses, redundancies and other things beyond their control. They also often worked more than one job at a time.

Anyway, I don’t want to derail the thread. My point is, not everyone with a good degree is a silver spoon princess, and not everyone whose parents didn’t pay for them have bad or unsupportive parents! It shouldn’t be an expectation that parents pay for uni IMO; if they want to or are able to then that’s lovely. But it shouldn’t be expected.

I would ask for information on the trust - where is it invested, how will the children access it when they come of age.

A relative had a similar situation - money left to them in trust by their parent, administrator was parents second wife. Said parent passed away much younger than expected and the trust wasn’t to be released until the second wife passed 30 years later. No one had ever passed any documentation to my relative and it was a nightmare for them to track down.

If your father in law passes and you don’t have basic information it’s going to be even harder if this was overseas.

Great @Nowhereelsetogo90 because you have just proved my point. You didn't do a science degree that necessitated weekend or evening attendance to monitor experiments in the lab.

My DC couldn't take on work as their course was every single day and weekends.
No rocking up for a job in Cafe Nerro or the local pub then saying 'sorry I can't do tonight because I have to hang around monitoring this stuff in the lab.'

You'd have to write lots of essays and read books.

No need for the sarcy comments. It's not bias, it's a fact.

Your degree did not require you to go into uni in the evenings or at weekends, to do work that counted towards a degree.

Ditto PGCE (I've got one of those myself.)

@OhMonDieux apologies for the sarcasm, I was responding to your sarcastic remark regarding an “arts degree.” As many people on here probably have arts degrees and might be hurt that you clearly consider their achievement somehow less.

Regarding science though, you are correct, my degrees were generally 9-5, although you’ll know yourself that the education postgrad doesn’t end when the school day does and requires lots of extra work.

I find it hard to believe that undertaking a science degree means you can’t work at all. Definitely less than some other degrees but at a bare minimum you could work full time through every holiday. Every degree comes with a substantial amount of time off and a three month Summer.