Can a trust fund be set up for my kids without me knowing?

[saltandpepsi]

I have 2 DC and I separated from their dad around 10years ago. They have no contact with him (his choice).

About 2 years ago DC’s paternal grandmother died (DC still saw her regularly) and exDH phoned me out of the blue to tell me that his mum had left them some money in her will and it would be put into a trust fund for them turning 18 (not life changing money, but still a substantial and very generous amount) I think exSIL was the executor of the will so I’m assuming she sorted it out.

I have heard nothing more about this money since that phone call, and exDH has taken up his previous no contact stance so I can’t ask him. My question is, can this all have been set up without them needing anything from me (I’m thinking they would need birth certificates/passports to open an account surely?) I don’t mind if it has, the money belongs to the kids and has nothing to do with me, but it would be good to know that it has definitely happened and they will have access to this money when they are older for uni fees/house deposit/car or whatever they choose to spend it on.

Can you ask your sil as she was the executor, she should have the details, if he had shared pr he might have set the account up, how old are the dc now.

Your DC's paternal grandmother probably made what is known as a 'bare trust' as part of her will. This is a type of will based trust where the beneficiary is entitled to the trust assets at a specific age. Until that age, the trust assets are held in a trust bank account managed by the trustees.

If you can't ask your ex-partner for details this is what you can do to find out more. Wills are available from the Probate Registry via the Gov.Co.Uk website and anybody from the general public can ask to see them once probate has been granted (once the administration of the estate has been completed and taxes paid). The Probate Registry won't inform the executors if you ask for a copy as it's in the public domain, this is how the tabloids find out who left what. You can also request to see the grant of the estate which will show the gross and net value of the estate (net after debts, IHT and income taxes have been paid). Don't forget, there will be other costs that will reduce the net amounts such as funeral costs and legal fees, other probate costs etc. However, it should be possible to gauge the rough amount that went into the trust as the will is usually expressed in shares of the net estate after costs e.g. "and finally, a 1/5 share of my net estate to be left in trust for my grandchildren to be shared equally.... ".

Thanks for that, that’s really helpful! I will look into it! When they come of age (they are early teens at the moment so a while off yet) will somebody contact them or will they have to contact someone about it?

I have thought about asking SIL but I don’t have her contact details (I don’t even know roughly in the country where she lives) and it doesn’t seem the sort of thing I would look her up on fb or insta and send her a DM about.

If I were you, I would pull a copy of the will from the Probate Registry and also get sight of the grant to estimate the size of the estate. The will make it clear how much of the estate goes into the trust (if it is a trust). The will also sets out who the trustees are and when the 'appointments' (payments) from the trust should be made to the beneficiaries. I would want to know who were the trustees. The solicitors should only make a payment from the estate into a trust bank account set up for the purpose. How this trust is managed in terms of growth really depends on the value of the trust, e.g. whether this is left in a high interest account to accumulate interest or is handed over to investment managers. The responsibilities of how trustees ought to manage a trust is set down by the Trustee Act 2000. They have responsibilities such as submitting tax returns. It it the trustees who make the payments from the trust to the beneficiaries in line with the settlor wishes (paternal grandmother).

Beware.... trustees don't always behave professionally (usually through ignorance) or sometimes legally (we've all read the recent tabloid story of the mother who spent her daughter's inheritance - it is criminal offence). Another thing to be aware of is will based discretionary trusts. Now, I shouldn't imagine this has been used, it is generally used in circumstances where you want to leave enormous discretion to the trustees as to what they do with the trust. The settlor leaves an expression of wishes letter but this has no legal binding on the trustees, they can do what they want. Discretionary trusts is usually used in circumstances where a beneficiary has reduced capacity and you wish to preserve the state benefits entitlement for the beneficiary by making it questionable as to whether they will receive anything from the trust. In this way, the trust isn't taken into account as savings which might make then ineligible for state benefits. And finally, I guess the worst case is where your DC paternal Grandmother didn't leave anything formally setup in her will at all, perhaps it was a letter to your partner explaining what she would like him to do when the time comes with a little bit of his inheritance share.

Pulling the will from the Probate Registry will tell you all. I've never personally pulled a will in this way (I familiar with all this because I'm a trustee of 3 trusts which is where my knowledge comes from), it could be that as a member of the general public, names and addresses in the will are redacted for GDPR purposes. Wills are written using words such as "my daughter XXXXX, my son YYYY. I leave to their issue in equal shares.... " (issue = their children).