Left a Trust in a will

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tigger449
tigger449 Posts: 6 Forumite
in Pensions, annuities & retirement planning
My late step-mother set up a trust to look after my father when she died. She died in 2013 and I was told by the solicitor acting for the trust that I would be the 'ultimate beneficiary' when my father died.

My father has now died and the solicitor has told me that the trustees may decide to keep the trust going rather than wind it up. My partner and I had hoped to invest any money from the trust in a business. Can I influence what the trustees decide to do?

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  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,302 Forumite
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    Who are the trustees ?
    Ex forum ambassador

    Long term forum member
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 44,427 Forumite
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    What kind of Trust is it and what does the Trust Deed say about the powers of the Trustees and who may benefit (and when) from the Trust?
  • Marcon
    Marcon Posts: 10,687 Forumite
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    Ask the solicitor - he has sign of the trust document and will be able to tell you.
    Googling on your question might have been both quicker and easier, if you're only after simple facts rather than opinions!  
  • kidmugsy
    kidmugsy Posts: 12,709 Forumite
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    If (if!) it's a discretionary trust then decisions about use of the money are at the trustees' discretion. If you are a beneficiary of the trust you are entitled to ask them for various bits of information:
    https://www.wealthlawyeruk.com/2018/05/03/trustees-beware-beneficiaries-can-ask-for-more-trust-information-than-you-think/

    In my time as a trustee I have been perfectly happy with adult beneficiaries asking for money from the trust and explaining the merits of their proposal. They, in their turn, have to remember the trustees' duty to all beneficiaries, which often includes children not yet born.

    If it's a Life Interest Trust with you as the sole remainderman (I think that's the jargon: do google) then my understanding is that once your father had died the money is meant to be passed to you.

    So you have to establish what kind of trust it is.
    Free the dunston one next time too.
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,944 Forumite
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    tigger449 wrote: »
    Can I influence what the trustees decide to do?

    Briefly, if you are the sole remaining beneficiary then yes. If there are other potential beneficiaries and the trustees have discretion, then possibly not.

    This is why you need the solicitor to confirm exactly what the terms of the trust are.

    To first tell you that you are the ultimate beneficiary and then suggest that you can't ask for the money is somewhat contradictory, but trusts are complicated and it may be a misunderstanding rather than the solicitor's error.
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