What to do...

[WhatintheworldJ]

Have a question. DC have trust fund and need to use the fund to purchase home. Grantor of fund has stolen something of ours and will not return it. If we ask grantor to return it they won’t allow access to fund and we will essentially become homeless. What the hell do we do?!

So this "grantor" - is it a trustee? Aren't there any other trustees, and what have they sten? You haven't given very much information, OP.

If what Grantor stole isn't as important as your DC receiving the fund and isn't tied to it, then wait till the fund's been received before asking Grantor about it.

I'm afraid more details may be needed here for a better reply.

@singlenotsingle sorry single. Just don’t want to out myself in any way. No the grantor isn’t a trustee. There are other trustees but we’re afraid that if we tell the police that this grantor has stolen something, they will stop us accessing the fund. They’ve stolen an iPad (which I’m still paying for). They won’t return it. We are desperate for the fund to purchase a home.

@Nothing2doooooo the funds won’t be handed to DC until they are of age. We had asked for access to fund before DC of age so it can buy a home for family to live in. They agreed but grantor ended up stealing this item and basically want us to keep our mouths shut as they’ve allowed fund to be used to get the home.

Bump. Would really like some advice

Are you saying this person in charge of the trust fund can't be trusted? Cost of an iPad compared to cost of a home is minimal so personally I'd let the iPad go if it gets you a home for your children to grow up in.

Wait until you've got the money then report the theft to the police.

@RedHelenB it’s true that the iPad isn’t worth losing the opportunity to get the house but it holds a lot of personal/private information as well as dear memories. We’ve lost access to countless photos/videos and this individual, the grantor, is perusing through our personal matters (messages, emails which are personal as well as business related etc) and refuses to give back something he has actually stolen. It makes me feel enraged that because the grantor has allowed early access to the fund he’s thought it fine to steal something valuable of ours. It’s disgusting and sickening behaviour from them. Surely there must be something we can do to stop this individual taking advantage of his position?

Also yes. The grantor of the trust fund can not be trusted as made clear above.

@prh47bridge when you say ‘got the money’ do you mean once the house has been bought? It will still be the fund’s house technically. If I report it after we’ve moved in to the house, can’t he just kick us out?

You can disable the iPad remotely...

@CheddarGorgeous thanks. I will be doing that. But once it’s disabled I still want it back and also want him to know he can’t just steal items from us because of the fund.

Ah, so the fund is buying the house. I got the impression that they were giving you the money to buy the house.

You need to consult a solicitor to find out how much power he has over the trust. If it is an irrevocable trust he cannot change the terms of the trust and the trustees cannot do anything that goes against its terms.

It would not be in the interest of the children to kick them out of a house bought for them with their money. Good luck to him going through the courts with that. I take it he's a relative which makes things trickier. Sometimes though you have to lose a battle to win a war.

Do they know you know they have the iPad?

You should be able to disable your iPad and have the contents moved to a new iPad. You'll need your Apple ID password but if you go to an Apple store or even phone them they should be able to sort you out.

You're going to need to see a solicitor, as buying a house won't be straight forward if it's going to be kept in the children's names.