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?

Trouble is it may not have been invested correctly or even set up at all.

Step one is up actually check a trust has been set up and get the details.

Later on you could investigate if anything can be released early but nothing can be done until you know there is a trust.

Asking the trustees to release the funds 14 years sooner than stipulated may not be a wise move unless you can arrange for the university to be paid directly, that would be more likely to meet their favour than actually giving access to the money.

it would also be better for your DC to at least keep some money for their 30th birthday and beyond, by finding other funding sources for education, as 40K could easily get swallowed up. Spend some, save some approach.

I think it’s better left in trust until they’re 30. I’ve seen many young people fritter away inheritances they weren’t mature enough to handle.

Even if your intervention is successful the money will go directly to your kids, so you cannot guarantee they will spend it on uni.

As far as the maintenance loan goes. My dc's work full time for almost 3 months over the summer. That really helps top up the loan (though I do top it up too, so they can save) look at university accommodation fees too as it varies massively between universities, especially second and third year accommodation. Ds1 went to UEA the private rentals were less than they are at Sussex where ds2 is now.

Are your children named Willy and Harold?

I think 30 years of age to receive that much is perfectly sensible. I'd just leave it.

It would appear comprehension fails you too.

OP said she got a copy of the will so she could avoid talking to her Mum's husband.

OP, I think if they can use it for something useful then obtaining or seeking to obtain it early is fine. Surely your Mum wanted the money to benefit your children and university is beneficial to their future.

It's been decades since I studied Trusts but I think there may be a provision whereby a trustee has the discretion to release funds for the education of the beneficiary. It may depend on how the clause in the will is drafted, but it may be implied - sorry, it's been so long I recall the detail. It might be worth checking the will and getting legal advice. The Trustee may want to take legal advice too, as they are liable should they pay out wrongly.
There'd be a reason your Mum stipulated 30.. that's not the norm and so she would have had discussions with her solicitor about that.
Is there a reason why your DC can't get loans for uni, should they wish to go?
I suspect your Mum wanted them to have the money when they were mature enough to make these decisions for themselves, it's enough to be a deposit on a home and maybe she didn't want it spent in dribs and drabs .

This

I was executor and trustee when my sister died. She stipulated 25 for her DCs to receive an inheritance. They were young teens when she was diagnosed and made the will. They both matured very quickly supporting their mum through a horrible long decline.

long story short, as trustee I believed DSis would agree both DCs now mature enough - and had need of- receiving the cash earlier. The solicitor said it was my call.

However, these were two individuals who had to grow up quickly and now had no parents to support them and no home. No way would I release cash for a 16 year old, nor to make life cushty for a student who had other means of support eg a home, parents, loans, grants. (Or to relieve parents from supporting their children’s education)

Whist you might have failed to read the op Really interested in how you think the op is being grabby to want to make sure her childrens inheritance is actually in place and can’t be touched by someone else

Pretty obvious why she did it this way, she didn't want it being pissed up the wall during uni. If you think your children are spending money on their education at uni you are very naive. Tuition fees are paid once they graduate and get a job, they will get a loan to help with living expenses, it's beer money they'll be short on. I received a thing my parents paid into at 21 when I was at uni (only around 5k or so). I gave up my pt job in final year to study (but I did also still go out) so it funded my nights out. I'm not a frivolous kind of person but I have nothing to show for it. It would have been far better to have the money at 30 when I bought my house. I think it's sensible to hold the money.

Given your children are adults and you aren't even a beneficiary it should be your children looking into this not you. It isn't actually anything to do with you. For all your mum's husband knows you could be trying to get your hands on the money, which she clearly didn't want.

@StoppinBy try reading the whole thread

Anybody else noting the irony of a dozen posters berating another poster for not reading the OP properly, when said poster has already apologised, thus demonstrating that the beraters have not RTFT?

I think I need to start with the solicitors that drew up the will. I’ve never had anything like this to deal with. I feel rude even asking what he’s done with it - feel like I’m being accusatory or something.

for what it’s worth, I don’t disagree with the basic principle that they shouldn’t have access to large sums of cash at 18.
My children are 13 months apart and our household income is just shy of 55k. Both of them will be means tested to receive roughly half the maintenance loan leaving the 4 of us having to find them at least 4.5k each per year. With the best will in the world finding 750 per month between the 4 of us for 2 years is going to smart . Of course they must work both then and now, and we’ll give every penny we have, but I very much doubt my mum would have realised how strapped all 4 of us will be. I’m certain she wanted to make sure it wasn’t squandered, but I doubt she knew anything at all about household means testing when two students are studying simultaneously. Even 1k a year of it would save a bit more time for study and student life rather than another night in a supermarket warehouse!

I agree, but I think it can be useful if the trustees have the power to vary it if they feel it's appropriate.

My DSS was 5 when he was left a trust fund by one of his grandmothers (it was actually left to her GCs plural, but he was the only GC when she died). She appointed her husband and her 2 siblings as trustees. The money was to go to the GCs when each of them reached 30, but the trustees could release it earlier if it was for something specific and all the trustees agreed.

DSS knew about the money, and asked for some of it to finance a gap year when he was 18, and for a car a few months later. He was utterly feckless, a bit off the rails (drinking and weed, mostly) and couldn't stick at anything, so they turned him down. When he was 21, he asked for the full fund to be released so he could buy a house, and they agreed to that (although they still wouldn't let him near the cash, the money was deposited with the solicitor who was doing the conveyancing without going anywhere near DSS's bank account).

He was able to buy a house in an expensive town with only £50k mortgage, which has set him up for life, really, but there's no doubt in my mind that if he'd had the cash at 18 or 21, he'd have frittered it away and have nothing to show for it.

Back to the OP, whether or not you ask for the money early OP (which I'm on it fence on), I think you should definitely ask for more information on the trust, where they're held etc.

They are completely different. If your Mum set up proper trusts then it may not be DH who is the trustee - it could be the solicitor but its also often one of the parents. If she set up these trusts for all the grandchildren it may be the solicitors who are also acting as trustees (usually for a fee).

Its normal for trusts to make the age of default access 30 or higher to stop young people going mad with it or being conned out of it. However its also normal for the trustees to have some discretion so eg - buying a property in mid 20s or so might well be looked considered within the spirit of the trust.

Its not a matter of "not being nice" to ask - as the parent of minors its entirely reasonable for you to want to understand how the trust is set up and any implications.

If the DH is simply executor of the will then he should be following the instructions in the will. Is the money left to them in the will directly and if so what are the instructions about what to do with the money until they are 30? It would seem odd that an executor is asked to hold a cash sum for 15+ years.

Our Will leaves our estate to our 4 grandchildren.It is in a trust to receive when they are 30 this is very normal now.Our lawyer is the trustee.For further education they will receive loans and will have to work alongside like thousands of others.A Will is a will left for a reason they are very lucky to receive this money and will be very grateful when they receive it I am sure.

I agree. What if the husband dies before passing the information on? You should know who the trustees are at the very least. They may or may not be the husband, maybe a firm of lawyers?

I agree. The children should at the very least know who the trustees are and some details. What if this guy dies and you have no idea where the trusts are?

I know the will stated money to be left in trust but do you actually know that she had enough money when she died to set up a trust for 40k each for 2 kids? It may have been much less or nothing at all.

As beneficiaries I'm sure there should have been some sort of accounts produced for them/their legal guardian when the distribution of the will was finalised.

Not read many PP but am currently re-writing my Will. I am aware that there is a 6% tax every 10 years on most Trusts - which I knew and has been reconfirmed to me today. Also inflation will devalue the inheritance over the years - point that out to executor. He has a duty to bear in all circumstances so why would he not allow something for education before 30?

It’s your mum’s money I think you should respect her wishes. It’s likely she wants to make sure it goes to something significant like a house purchase instead of being used in small bits. It’s a bonus rather than an expectation.

I wouldn’t expect a dc to use inheritance that’s clearly intended to help them get a boost once they’re settled and have direction on further education. If at 30 they wanted to do a phd then fine but at 18 surely parents fund this. This post makes me so uncomfortable with how people can’t respect wishes. Setting it at 30 suggests the grandmother knew this might happen and did all she could to prevent it.

Read.. ''bare in MIND'' ! Also you should have contacted executor long ago.