Trustee of discretionary trust wants to resign - where does this leave me?

lechatnoir89

Hi All,

My mother is one of two trustees assigned to the discretionary trust left to me by my late father, the other is my uncle.

Due to a family dispute my mother now wants to resign from her duties as trustee and is encouraging my uncle to do the same. Where would this leave me as beneficiary? Could they potentially appoint a solicitor to do the work of the trustees instead?

I ask because the trust is not wildly clear on how the money was to be delegated to me, except in a statement of wishes which as I understand it is more of a guideline than a set in stone sort of thing. The only stipulation was that if I die before all funds have been used then the remainder would be passed on to my half brother and sister.

I also have a strong suspicion that my mother may have potentially misappropriated funds and paid a sum of money to herself from the trust which was not outlined in the will, although as I have never seen a copy of the bank statements I can't yet prove this. Would this hold any sway in my being able to potentially take on the remaining money myself?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Savvy_Sue

How old are you? You might be able to wind the trust up, but I believe discretionary trusts are trickier than bare trusts.

What are the terms of the trust?

lechatnoir89

Savvy_Sue said:

How old are you? You might be able to wind the trust up, but I believe discretionary trusts are trickier than bare trusts.

What are the terms of the trust?

Hi Sue, 
Thanks for your reply. I'm 31 years old. As far as I'm aware the only terms are as I mentioned in the post above (that any remaining funds on my death be passed to my half brother and sister). There was a statement of wishes that loosely said that the money was to be used for purposes of entertainment, purchasing equipment for fun, holidays and so on. Up until this point I was receiving a monthly amount from the Trust as this was how my father used to help me out while he was alive, although my mother has now decided this is inappropriate and she no longer wants to be involved as a trustee, and is encouraging my uncle to also give up his duties as trustee. 

Sea_Shell

Have you got an actual copy of the will?

What's the exact wording.

If not, did it go to probate?  Have you looked to see if a copy is publicly available?

Keep_pedalling

You should request the trust be wound up and the funds given to you.

Marcon

lechatnoir89 said:

Hi All,

My mother is one of two trustees assigned to the discretionary trust left to me by my late father, the other is my uncle.

Due to a family dispute my mother now wants to resign from her duties as trustee and is encouraging my uncle to do the same. Where would this leave me as beneficiary? Could they potentially appoint a solicitor to do the work of the trustees instead?

You need to have a look at the trust document (or whatever paperwork there is - from what you've posted there may not be anything beyond the rather vague wordings in the will). Winding up the trust if all parties agree sounds the most sensible way forward - and if your mother and uncle both decide to step down, it would be the logical way to go.

Sea_Shell

Do you think your Mum and Uncle will be happy to wind up the trust and let you have the money, with no further strings attached, or do they just not want to be the ones dealing with it?

Do you have any idea of how much is left?   As part of winding up, are you entitled to be given copy statements too, I wonder?

kazwookie

Get the paperwork and read what is actually says.

Once you know this then, you can work out what is best.

I would suggest you get so legal advise, and I personally would encourage mother / uncle to resign, and you get it paid out ot you in a lump sum.

You could also ask for statements (bank or such like) for the number of years this has been a trust, so you can see where any money has gone if that is the case.

Manxman_in_exile

If you are 31 years old and you have full capacity (and your posts and questions on here seem well written and well thought out) it seems a bit odd to me that you don't already have full control of these funds yourself - although I appreciate a discretionary trust can be a bit difficult to negotiate.

Have you never queried with your mother and uncle what was originally in the trust and how they've accounted for it?

As others have said, you need to look at the precise wording of the will and the trust document - if there is one.  You may want to speak to a solicitor if there is a substantial amount of money involved - or possibly gone missing.