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

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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?

At the moment, you don’t know if the wishes contained in the will were executed properly - that’s my reading of this situation. If you didn’t inherit anything then you don’t know that the estate was distributed according to her wishes, as you haven’t been informed of anything. So you really must ask. If you don’t ask her widow, contact the solicitors - but chances are they’ll ask him if he dealt with probate etc so you might as well start with him. It may be awkward but you must ask for details of the trust.

I expect she chose the age 30 so that they wouldn't waste it on extravagant purchases or impressing friends while they were young. But also so in their formative young adulthood they learned the importance of working for yourself, of earning your own money and managing your own finances. By 30, with no outside help, they will have developed an adult approach to finances.

Tbh, I think spending it on uni would be a waste. DC were each left 30k for uni support by a lovely relative. DS1 hasn't touched his. He preferred to take out a loan and keep the 30k towards a house deposit. DS2 has some complex SEN - physical and mental so he has dipped into his but still has most of it.

Get your DC to take out student loans and get a p/t job like most students. At 30 they will be hugely grateful for the money and really know what they want it for.

I think leave the money till they are 30 or great starting house deposit.

However you really need to follow u and ensure the trusts are made. I’m not sure of the legalities but what if the trusts haven’t been created and he passes in the next 14 years

Did your Mum die in the UK? I think I'd get proper legal advise. The advise on this thread is al over the place 😅

What exactly do you want the money to pay for at university? BecauseI've got two kids in university and I'm on a very low fixed income and hell would freeze over before I would allow them to use an inheritance or savings to pay for ANY of it. I don't contribute to my kids at all except for travelling home and covering all costs when home. Very few people ever go on to clear their entire student loan debt. And living costs can be covered by loans and a part time job. There is an important life lesson in working through university and supporting yourself.

You need to bear in mind that it is MUCH easier to spend £40k in dribs and drabs over 3-4 years and have nothing left to show for it but a Mediocre degree, than it is to save £40k over 10 years.

In your shoes my children wouldn't see a penny of that ( especially my daughters who are likely to take a SAHM career hit and never repay the loans ). The money at 30 would encourage them to save after university and would provide a decent deposit.

They can get through Uni without this money. I’m surprised you would want them to access the money early for this reason. At Uni, parents help, they get loans and/or they work. Leave if how it is.

This. It’s an entirely legitimate request and isn’t being grabby it’s one of the ways in which trusts can work.

You need to find out where the funds are held and who the trustees are.

It's not rude to ask that, I'm surprised you don't already know!

Contact the solicitor as a first step and then at least you'll know the trust details.

I'd say 30 is a good age to be honest. Uni can be paid for without it, the same way everyone else does. I got ten grand at 21 and used it to help me through uni (I went late) and learn to drive, which sounds good but I could have just worked more hours at uni to do that. It would have been better put towards a house deposit.

It’s in a trust for a reason. Those were your mums wishes and should be respected

Agree with this. Plus, it sounds sensible. I know what I'd have been likely to do with £40k at 18 and it would have been far more wisely used at 30!

How long ago did she die? If a couple of years then yes I suggest writing to the executors and just say you thought it would be useful to have some basic details eg contact person for the trust to keep on file for when they are 30.

Your mum chose 30 for a reason I'd respect that

She probably wanted them to fund their early adulthood in the same way anyone else did.

The advice on this thread is quite consistent. OP needs to contact the solicitor who drew up the will and ask for the details of the trust. If it's not in trust but a delayed inheritance, she needs to contact her DM's widower.

In a perfect world, OP and her children could assume that all the probate work was done properly, her children's inheritance is safely invested and trustees have been appointed. But in such a world, there would have been some communication with OP as her children's legal guardian while they are minors to tell her where the money is and how to get hold of it when the time comes. I would be concerned that the lack of communication may signal a problem. Four years have passed, so I think it's perfectly reasonable to get in touch with either the stepfather or the solicitor to ask what's happened to the money and to enquire about the possibility of releasing some of to help with the enormous cost of accommodation while at university. Good luck.

This. Whether they can access it early is a secondary issue - you need to make sure that the trusts exist!

My sister and I had a similar situation, we could inherit until we were 25. My mum
Was join executer, I believe she had the trust fund closed down and had the money released. The bank were the other executor.

100% this

Coming at this from a different perspective.

I have left my Grandchildren a third of my property value each (so a reasonable amount if money) to be held in trust until they are 30.

I chose 30 as I judged that to have been the age when I would have been most capable of benefitting from such a bequest. Prior to that it would have been a huge disincentive for me to study and create a career for myself.

However, the Trustees (my DD and my Solicitor) received a letter of wishes from me saying that 20% of the funds could be released early if required to support University education, 10% at the time of marriage, 50% to support the earlier purchase of a property and 100% if money was urgently needed for health care.

My Solicitor advised this approach and said that my wishes would be fully considered in each of those scenarios. I would be gutted if they weren’t.

I think you need to understand who the Trustees are, how the money is invested and whether such a Letter of Wishes exists. I don’t think it is unreasonable to ask that and actually I am sure your DM would expect you to know these things 4 years later.

Ok, I’ll dig out the will. I didn’t realise there was a difference between an executor or a trustee. I also didn’t realise that the trusts could possibly not be set up.

There is unlikely to be a separate trust document - the will is the governing legal doc and should describe the terms under which the assets are held in trust. Check if it refers to STEP Standard Provisions, either 1st or 2nd edition. these are a set of conditions/powers drawn up by people in the profession to help trustees appreciate what they legally can/can’t do and will include matters such as advancing capital early to the beneficiaries.

I see these kind of trusts all the time through work. Small trusts can be a PITA as they put a lot of responsibility on the trustees. They are obliged to register with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service (deadline in your case would have been 31 August 2022, so that’s already missed) and to keep that register updated when anyone moves house, the trustee gets a new email address or phone number, etc etc.

Trustees are also obliged to review the investment policy every year to ensure they are doing their best for the beneficiaries, otherwise they could be personally liable to them. Your DC have a right to be given details of how their capital is invested and be kept informed of how it’s being managed.

With this knowledge your DSD might then decide he no longer wants to be involved and you can replace the trustees with people closer to your DC. There will be legal costs in doing so however.

Go to a solicitor or accountant who specialises in trusts for some prelim advice. Sometimes you can get an introductory meeting for free and see how much info you glean from that.

I don't want to add another level of anxiety, but is your DM's widower definitely going to live until both of your DC are 30? If he's the only trustee I think at the very least it would be good to know who else has details of the trust.

If the money is in trust then there should be some appointed trustees. You need to find out who administers the trust and speak to them about the finer details.

You need to find out who the trustee is. The trustee is responsible for investing and managing the money. If it's left in cash for 15 years it will have far less buying power due to inflation. It needs to be sensibly invested.

The trustee may need to complete a tax return. You may be the trustee! You need to find this out.

In some cases the trustee can release funds early.

I would definitely ask who the trustee is and to see the deed of trust. You need this info. Imagine if he died or stopped contacting you - find this out now.

Woukd be awful to find out in 15 years that the money had been sitting in a current account and dwindled in value.

To be blunt wealthy families inheritance plan, invest wisely, and pass it down. Not asking about it for fearing being thought of as "grabby" is why some families pass much less down.

To be blunt wealthy families inheritance plan, invest wisely, and pass it down. Not asking about it for fearing being thought of as "grabby" is why some families pass much less down.

Exactly!

This. I have several family members who are probate solicitors and they say that it is extremely rare to see large sums of money given to people under 30 used wisely.