Trust fund curiosity

Cleo9990

Hello,
Hoping for some advice or ideas really and hope that's okay to ask...
We've just recently found out my partner's great uncle has died a few weeks ago. He was the person in charge of a trust fund that was set up by my partner's great grandad back in we think apx 1950... My partner's aunty has copies of original documentation but she is currently away on holiday.
Only the great uncle who's just passed was allowed to benefit from the trust during his lifetime but now he's died it's to be split between 9 family members, my partner being one.
The amount was £2000 back in 1950 we think and came from a farm being sold. The money was apparently being used and the uncle living off it though I find that hard to believe......
It was in Barclays apparently but was then moved and we've heard from a cousin probably invested?!?!
The solicitor will sort it all out and being shared between 9 I suppose we'll be unlikely to get very.much at all if anything....

I just wondered if anyone could shed any light on whether this may result in a nice surprise money wise or be unlikely to have come to much as we're a bit curious now. Also, will it take months and months to sort or do these things wrap up quite quickly? We have no idea!
Cheers in advance...

eskbanker

There's no way for anyone on here to know from your sketchy info just how complex or lucrative this will be, my view would be to expect very little at some distant point in the future and then anything better than that would be a bonus!

Cleo9990

Yes, it's all very sketchy, I am aware of that of course, but I didn't ask for exact details or specific figures, just any thoughts, feelings, ideas, advice, etc....

It's my first post and I don't use mse. I didn't realise it was necessary to provide specific details in every post. Apologies. Thanks for replying anyway.

Cleo9990

I think I just wanted people's thoughts as I've never had a trust fund, and we don't really understand how they work in their entirety... Was after any thoughts, ideas or advice from anyone with a similar situation previously, as it's all new to us. Thankyou!

Cleo9990

I think I just wanted people's thoughts as I've never had a trust fund, and we don't really understand how they work in their entirety... Was after any thoughts, ideas or advice from anyone with a similar situation previously, as it's all new to us. Thankyou!

eskbanker

Cleo9990 wrote: »

Yes, it's all very sketchy, I am aware of that of course, but I didn't ask for exact details or specific figures, just any thoughts, feelings, ideas, advice, etc....

It's my first post and I don't use mse. I didn't realise it was necessary to provide specific details in every post. Apologies. Thanks for replying anyway.

My post must have come across as critical, which wasn't my intention! I was simply observing that there are too many variables involved for anyone on here to be able to answer your original questions, rather than actually criticising you for not providing the info (which you don't have either at this stage).

As you rightly say, "The solicitor will sort it all out", so that may be a better avenue to get more of a steer on timescales....

Malthusian

A typical example (which may be similar to yours, or may be completely irrelevant) would be that the great-grandfather wanted to ensure his son would have a comfortable lifestyle, but didn't want to just give him the capital. Either because he wanted the wider family to benefit after his son had died rather than just the son's heirs, or because he didn't trust the son not to blow it. (Although as the son was also a trustee, that suggests it wasn't the latter.)

The £2,000 would be invested by the trustees in something like a portfolio of shares that would both provide income and allow the capital to grow in value over the long term. The income would be given to the great-uncle, with the expectation that when he died, the capital would be divided up among the remaining beneficiaries. If it was invested sensibly (as the trustees were obliged to by law) the capital should at least have kept pace with inflation.

£2,000 in 1950 would be £63,000 now if it kept pace with inflation. If it had been invested it could be worth many times more than that, but there's no point thinking about that because the trustees in 1950 didn't have the option of going on MSE and being told to plonk it in Vanguard LifeStrategy, and it's impossible to know how well or badly it may have been invested.

Regardless of how it was invested, there's no way of knowing whether there's much left to give to beneficiaries because great-grandfather's trust may have allowed the trustees to give capital to the great-uncle (for whatever reason). And apparently the only trustee was the great-uncle. So it's quite possible he may have advanced all the trust's money to himself by now.

Short answer, what eskbanker said - assume you'll get nothing and anything you do get will be all the sweeter.

xylophone

Great grandpa was the great uncle's father?

He sold some property and used the proceeds to create a Trust (settlement) to benefit first his son ( a "life interest") and subsequently certain other named beneficiaries.

It seems that the great uncle was a Trustee as well as a beneficiary - it is possible ( even probable) that there was more than one Trustee - the executor of your great uncle's estate should be able to establish the facts.

The likelihood is that the settled funds were invested and that your great uncle benefited from receiving the income from the investments but could not touch the capital.

Now that he has died, the position could be that the remaining beneficiaries are also entitled to benefit from the income or possibly that the Trust comes to an end and the capital is distributed between them.

The Trust Deed will show the details.

tacpot12

£2000 in 1950 could be worth over £200,000 today if it had been invested well (10% pa), and this could be producing an income of about £6000 pa which combined with a state pension would have been enough for the old chap to live off.

It is more likely though that the pot is worth less than £100,000 (possibly a lot less), but even so, it could provide your partner with a useful amount of money, anywhere from a few hundred to over £10,000. This is pure speculation though.

It would be more fruitful to talk to your partner about what she might do with this windfall, if it turns out to be more than a few hundred pounds. Re-investing it would be the wise course of action, unless you have debts that could be cleared, and the debt repayments redirected to investments.

coyrls

tacpot12 wrote: »

£2000 in 1950 could be worth over £200,000 today if it had been invested well (10% pa), and this could be producing an income of about £6000 pa which combined with a state pension would have been enough for the old chap to live off.

I suspect you're raising false hopes with figures like this. As others have said the best plan is to set expectations low and have a nice surprise if it turns out differently.

Even with your most optimistic figure, £10,000 is not life changing and it's very, very likely to be a lot less.

kidmugsy

You might at least hope for a weekend at the seaside with lots of fish and chips. I recommend Whitby.