Money left to grandchildren in "trust" - what exactly do we have to do as executors?

martin2345uk

Sorry if this is a basic question but, our mum left £10k to each of her 4 grandchildren in her will, to be held in trust until they are 21.

Me and my sister are executors of the will. 2 of the grandkids are hers, 2 are our brother's.

What exactly do we have to do with the money, once it's released? I don't really understand the whole "in trust" thing. Do we need solicitors? Do we become "trustees"?

I've been so focussed on getting probate sorted that this part has kind of escaped my attention!

Keep_pedalling

If each GC has been gifted this sum absolutely, which is highly likely, then the age 21 clause is no more than a wish and they will all be able to claim their inheritance once they reach 18 (16 in Scotland). Until then the money will need to held in bare trusts (one for each of them) Where you place that money very much depends on their ages. For infants I would look to invest It rather than cash savings which would be more suitable for teenagers.

For this sort of sum your simplest solution would be to place the monetary into JISAs. Which locks it away until they are 18. 

martin2345uk

Thanks... they are all teenagers apart from the eldest who is 21 already. I assume we just give her her share straightaway?
The others are all under 17.

So would we open these JISA's in the name of the other 3? I've just looked them up and it says you can only put £9,000 into one..? Would their parents have to do it? We are not in contact with our brother but can reach him through our dad if needed... (long depressing story).

Keep_pedalling

martin2345uk said:

Thanks... they are all teenagers apart from the eldest who is 21 already. I assume we just give her her share straightaway?
The others are all under 17.

So would we open these JISA's in the name of the other 3? I've just looked them up and it says you can only put £9,000 into one..? Would their parents have to do it? We are not in contact with our brother but can reach him through our dad if needed... (long depressing story).

Yes, the eldest can get his money now. Only a parent or guardian con open one for a child so you sister would need to do it for hers. Although the maximum you can open one with I’d £9000 you can put the remaining £1000 in at the beginning of the next financial year (6th April). 

Looks like the best current rate is with the Coventry BS.

https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/member/product/savings/children/junior-cash-isa-2.html

diego_94

Trusts are a pain, and come with all legal loops that you have to jump through at great expense. It will also be a lot of work for you for £30k. 

Like someone suggested, put it in a JISA until they are 18.

martin2345uk

Thanks all. Sounds like JISAs are the way forward. 

Question: if our brother opens 2 in his children’s names… can he give us the bank details and we put the money in? Or would we have to give the money to him and he would deposit it? I’m not saying we don’t trust him but… yeah 

Keep_pedalling

martin2345uk said:

Thanks all. Sounds like JISAs are the way forward. 

Question: if our brother opens 2 in his children’s names… can he give us the bank details and we put the money in? Or would we have to give the money to him and he would deposit it? I’m not saying we don’t trust him but… yeah 

Only a parent can open a JISA but others can pay in. Our GC have S&S JISAs which we have funded, set up by our children with money from us which we top up on their birthdays direct to their accounts.

Your brother may need to add the initial deposit though as there is usually a minimum opening deposit required although I think that is only a pound with the Coventry BS. Once set up you can transfer the money into it from your own account.

Marcon

martin2345uk said:

Thanks all. Sounds like JISAs are the way forward. 

Question: if our brother opens 2 in his children’s names… can he give us the bank details and we put the money in? Or would we have to give the money to him and he would deposit it? I’m not saying we don’t trust him but… yeah 

Only a parent or guardian can actually open the JISA, but anyone can pay into it - so yes, brother needs to open 2 JISAs and then give you the details to pay direct. The two children are the legal owners of the JISA from the time it is  opened, so brother won't be able to access their funds.

martin2345uk

Thanks very much for those responses. 

2 final questions for now…

1. As executors, who actually oversees/verifies that we’ve distributed the will correctly? Is it just entrusted to us? Does any legal party need to “sign it off” or something?
2. And if the will specifically says “trust” will there be any issues with using these JISAs..?
   

Keep_pedalling

martin2345uk said:

Thanks very much for those responses. 

2 final questions for now…

1. As executors, who actually oversees/verifies that we’ve distributed the will correctly? Is it just entrusted to us? Does any legal party need to “sign it off” or something?

In general it is just down to trust, but you should provide estate accounts to all residual beneficiaries. Unless a beneficiary challenges the executors then that is all there is to it.

1. And if the will specifically says “trust” will there be any issues with using these JISAs..?
   

Although JISAs are not classed as trusts they effectively do everything a bare trust does and once the money is in a JISA are a lot safer than in the hands of a trustee as we have seen on a recent thread  where a trustee gambled away the inheritance. For small inheritances they are ideal and do not leave you open to a charge of mishandling the money by a beneficiary.

martin2345uk

Thank you. Is a residual beneficiary the people who get what’s left once the named beneficiaries are given their nominated amounts?