Advice re. administration of large lump sum left in trust to kids?

[WonderWine]

The DDs (aged 14 & 11) have been left a large sum of money in trust by a close relative. I am joint trustee with another relative (B).

B is not very close, geographically or emotionally, and unlikely to add much value to the administration of the trust fund, so it looks as if I will have to 'lead' things and get her sign off or else nothing will happen.

I know I have to get 'professional advice' and have various obligations, including e.g. tax returns, but I'm not very keen to turn over the whole £sum to an IFA who will charge me £'000s a year to advise putting it in passive tracker funds.

Anyone been through similar, and can offer advice about how to approach this?
Also is there anyway I can swap B for a more useful trustee?

Replacement of trustees is sometimes detailed on the trust deed - have a look there. Otherwise there's a specific legal order how to remove/replace them - trust settlor having a say although it sounds from your OP like it's a will trust so the settlor is not available to make decisions. You can always ask if the other trustee would like to resign and get another trustee to act in his/her place.

The investment part depends on whether you want the capital to be available in short term, in which case some sort of investment portfolio or even a savings account is the way to go. There's also an option of investing the capital and buy a rental property and use the income from that to support your children. These are the most common investments I see in my work although trusts can invest in a variety of products/businesses.

If you don't know about trust tax then I would suggest finding an accountant/tax adviser who does. Trust tax is 45% (if we're talking discretionary trusts) so some tax planning is required if investing in income producing assets. There may be IHT liabilities to contend with as well.