Child Trust Fund - parents have spent

wmb194

p00hsticks said:

claireAs executor of the wills of both parents I feel some responsibility to ensure he receives his legacies in accordance with their wishes. 

I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression that (in England & Wales at least) legacies left to minors are supposed to be placed into a trust until the beneficary turned 18 ?

A "trust" could be a simple bare trust, instant access children's savings account for which a parent is the sold trustee and could easily withdraw the money.

I suspect that the CTF quoted in the OP's opening post wasn't a no-access until 18 CTF but something else, possibly an ordinary savings account.

Jami74

Do you have proof that it was definitely withdrawn from the child trust fund? Has the 18 year old contacted the provider? I ask because we found it difficult to get my son's child trust fund and it was showing as zero, but that's because it had been transferred to something else and it wasn't straight forward to track it down. Also, over the years the provider changed but we always got letters and yearly statements.
Or has the mother admitted that she's accessed it?

mattojgb

wmb194 said:

p00hsticks said:

claireAs executor of the wills of both parents I feel some responsibility to ensure he receives his legacies in accordance with their wishes. 

I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression that (in England & Wales at least) legacies left to minors are supposed to be placed into a trust until the beneficary turned 18 ?

A "trust" could be a simple bare trust, instant access children's savings account for which a parent is the sold trustee and could easily withdraw the money.

I suspect that the CTF quoted in the OP's opening post wasn't a no-access until 18 CTF but something else, possibly an ordinary savings account.

It depends what was in the will. If not specified then I think it's a bare trust and I don't think trustees can release money until the child's 18th birthday. The child will have a claim against the trustees if they do (even if the child benefited from the proceeds). I would expect the executors to be trustees. There may be a claim against the executors if the money has disappeared. If the will specifies a discretionary trust then the trustees have discretion to use the money for the benefit of the child.

mattojgb

You may want to check that the CTF is where you think it is:

https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fund

daveyjp

Over 18 years there were quite a few changes to CTF including takeovers of providers etc.  If parents didn't keep track, or moved and didn't update their address records it is likely the money is still in an account somewhere.

claireS_2

LinLui said:

To be fair, £10k is very litttle money over 10 years and if it's the father you are all related to, perhaps you should be pointing out that he was supposed to step up and support his child? As you say, he lives abroad and has provided limited support. Instead of seeking to blame the mother for this, perhaps you should be looking at your relatives (previous and ongoing) lack of support for their child. Here's an idea - he could step up to securte his own childs future instead of expecting everyone else to do it for him.

I mean, amounts of money are relative. To my family it’s a lot of money and more than the rest of us had at that age which is why I’m annoyed it’s gone missing. 

FWIW I completely agree with you about the father’s behaviour. He’s a complete (insert word of choice here) and I’m ashamed of the way he’s acted. He’s been told this in no uncertain terms. But I’m related to him not responsible for him so …? 

I think asking any parent where the money you have given their child has gone is a reasonable ask really. 

claireS_2

Update: many thanks to those who have taken the time to respond. I’ve had a chat with his mum over the weekend (we’re on good terms) and she’s admitted some problematic behaviour which I won’t detail on here. Long story short the money was never deposited in nephew’s trust as we were told but directly into his parents accounts from where it has been spent. We’re working on getting back what money we can. Nephew continues to plan for a slightly different future but is the absolute best thing to come from this whole sorry mess really. 

mattojgb

https://www.limesolicitors.co.uk/inheritance-disputes/executor-administrator-disputes/misappropriation-of-trusts/

artyboy

claireS_2 said:

Update: many thanks to those who have taken the time to respond. I’ve had a chat with his mum over the weekend (we’re on good terms) and she’s admitted some problematic behaviour which I won’t detail on here. Long story short the money was never deposited in nephew’s trust as we were told but directly into his parents accounts from where it has been spent. We’re working on getting back what money we can. Nephew continues to plan for a slightly different future but is the absolute best thing to come from this whole sorry mess really. 

While it's scant consolation, the CTF should at the least still have the initial government contribution secure in it (with whatever growth has happened over the 18 years) - it's unlikely to be a lot, but the account won't be totally empty unless there was further fraud at work here...

Malthusian

marcia_ said:

p00hsticks said:

claireAs executor of the wills of both parents I feel some responsibility to ensure he receives his legacies in accordance with their wishes. 

I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression that (in England & Wales at least) legacies left to minors are supposed to be placed into a trust until the beneficary turned 18 ?

 Not unless the will stipulates this 

An indefeasible, direct legacy to an under-18 child where English/Welsh law applies automatically creates a bare trust which the child can access at 18. Unless it specifies a more complicated kind of trust.