Inheritance

[Whenwillthesunshine]

Please can I have some advice

My mum died 18 years and left £25,000 for my children to share when they reached 21. My oldest was 21 last weekend and he has been told he will be getting £3,500!!
I have 6 children but was told at the yime of her death as only 3 were alive at the time of mums death it splits 3 ways,but £3,500 times 3 is £10,500!! Now I'm told its all 6 of then but at £3,500 this still only makes £21,000!!

There is money missing,the solicitor said something about fees for the company looking after the money,what does this mean?
My niece also got left £25,000 but only got around £15,000!!

There is between £14,000 and £24,500 missing,where do I go from here?
Can that much really be used for fees?
My youngest is only 13 if he is entitled to any will there be any left in 8 Years?

If I had taken £25,000 in cash and put it under my mattress I would still have £25,000.

I don't understand how this happened, the solicitor I spoke to was useless, my mums solicitor has now retired and the one I spoke to would have only been about 16 when the will was set up.

I'm asking are they allowed to invest it with a company that charges this amount of money?
Where do I go to investigate this further,its not fair on my children, my niece or the lovely gesture my mum left for her grandchildren.

Sorry for such a long post.
Thanks in advance.

You need to get a full statement from the solicitor.

My first guess would be that if your mother had appointed the solicitor as trustee then they may well have creamed off a fortune in fees. However, even if they had done so, assuming that the money was invested appropriately then those fees should have been more than offset by market growth over the past 18 years.

If the money was invested inappropriately 18 years ago then there may be a good explanation as to why their growth is so low (e.g. if invested solely in some single tech stocks 1999 immediately before the crash), but this is a long shot. More likely that extortionate trust management fees have eroded the value.

I am not a solicitor, however I am wondering given the size of inheritance, why you not been given (or asked for) regular updates on the trust management and fortunes, particularly given the shortfall in money versus that stated in the will.

I'm sure that someone infinitely more knowledgeable will come along in a moment...

Sound wrong to me. My granny did the same and it was stuck in a premium bond or something for 21 years and worth a bit more than originally put in but not much less. It was not a big enough sum to be put out with a management company. It seems to be this sort of sum for a child should just have been stuck into some kind of ISA with no risk to it.

I don't understand the 3 and the 6 point. If they say it is divided between 6 children is that becausethe 3 who are dead left heirs and the money went to their heirs?

With the 3 children alive at time of her death v 3 alive plus 3 subsequent, it depends I think on how the will was worded.

e.g. If 3 children explicitly named then it is theirs alone.
If it is more like 'Sunshine's 3 children and any others born later before she is 50', then the 6 would share it.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

At time when mum died I was told it was only my children who were alive at the time of her death which is 3, since she died I have had 3 more children and my oldest has now been told it is to be split between all 6 children.