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#Post#: 40762--------------------------------------------------
Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sibling
trustee
By: markie76 Date: October 14, 2024, 5:06 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
I'm looking for some initial advice on behalf of a friend who
has given me permission to act on their behalf.
I will give a summary to find out if this is something I can get
advice about here and then can go into more detail where
necessary.
My friends father passed away 7 years ago and the Will stated
their brother & wife are to setup a trust with their share of
the 'inheritance' which is to provide them an 'income'.
I believe this was done because my friend doesn't work, has MH
issues and the father was worried may not manage their
inheritance properly/for the long term.
Initially there was no need for an income as my friend received
the full sum of inheritance from their mothers estate who passed
away shortly before their father.
Once the mothers inheritance money ran out, the brother
(trustee) begrudgingly made the 'emergency' money available but
tightly controlled.
He refused to pay for things like personal shopping, dental
work, home repairs, holidays, make money available for special
ocassions and would want to see bank statements to see where
they are spending money.
Once that money ran out, the brother stated they had gone
through the money 3 years sooner than they should have -
according to some sort of 'calculation'. (they expected the
mothers inheritance to last longer despite it bearing no
relation to the fathers Will/estate)
My friend is bankrupt with no savings and their only asset their
house which is in a serious state of disrepair. Only income at
the time was a small amount of benefits.
They both (my friend & son) started contacting the brother
(trustee) that they need an income from their inheritance as per
the Will.
The brother (trustee) initially resisted then began stating the
trust cannot 'be' or 'easily be' accessed due to the way it has
been setup/invested.
Then there was a bit of a bust up with the brother stating he is
no longer going to manage the 'trust' and is looking for a
solicitor to take it over.
The search for a solicitor took about 4-5 months and one
apparently took control of the trust in Dec23 with the heads of
the practice becomming the new trustees.
An employee at the solicitor was briefed on the situation and an
'income' was requested asap in Jan24.
That employee has been chased regularly and it is always the
same story that they are working on it - 9 months after the
request for a trust income, there is still nothing.
My friend now knows where the inheritance was invested and it is
in some long term bonds. They have also seen (have a copy of) an
email where the brother states to the investment company that an
income from the money is not required.
Can anyone provide advice on best way to proceed;
1. Waiting 8 months for the new trustee (solicitor) to fulfil
request for an income. (as per Will)
2. The brother stating to the investment company an income is
not required.
Before the brother transferred the trust, it was reported to the
Police as financial abuse who did nothing/didn't take it
seriously.
My friend doesn't have any money to appoint a solicitor.
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark
#Post#: 43059--------------------------------------------------
Re: Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sib
ling trustee
By: The Slithy Tove Date: October 30, 2024, 2:54 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Has your friend approached Citizens Advice? It may well be
beyond their capabilities, but worth a try.
#Post#: 43141--------------------------------------------------
Re: Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sib
ling trustee
By: markie76 Date: October 30, 2024, 9:09 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=The Slithy Tove link=topic=3457.msg43059#msg43059
date=1730274895]
Has your friend approached Citizens Advice? It may well be
beyond their capabilities, but worth a try.
[/quote]
Yes beyond their service and something that needs to go legal.
Thus I was hoping the 'legal advice' section could provide some
advice.
#Post#: 43196--------------------------------------------------
Re: Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sib
ling trustee
By: roythebus Date: October 30, 2024, 2:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
How about one of the "help the aged" type charities?
#Post#: 43199--------------------------------------------------
Re: Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sib
ling trustee
By: mickR Date: October 30, 2024, 3:06 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
wouldn't happen to be Which? magazine members
are they? they could help.
or legal help as part of the house insurance?
#Post#: 43202--------------------------------------------------
Re: Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sib
ling trustee
By: Southpaw82 Date: October 30, 2024, 3:23 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=markie76 link=topic=3457.msg43141#msg43141
date=1730297349]
[quote author=The Slithy Tove link=topic=3457.msg43059#msg43059
date=1730274895]
Has your friend approached Citizens Advice? It may well be
beyond their capabilities, but worth a try.
[/quote]
Yes beyond their service and something that needs to go legal.
Thus I was hoping the 'legal advice' section could provide some
advice.
[/quote]
Possibly but it would take a lot of time and a lot more
information than you’ve currently provided. I think it’s
unlikely you’ll get the sort of help needed from here.
#Post#: 54779--------------------------------------------------
Re: Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sib
ling trustee
By: Hroogar Date: January 23, 2025, 2:03 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I am so sorry to hear of your friend’s issue.
I’ve been going through a contentious probate issue for 3 years
and it’s not cheap.
I hope for their sake that the solicitors now dealing with it
are not Sheltons/Edward Hands & Lewis n. That is who has ‘dealt’
with my late mother’s estate.
You perhaps ought to try some local university law school to see
if they could take this on Pro Bono.
It might be worth writing a letter of complaint to the
solicitors and giving them 8 weeks to respond then get legal
ombudsman involved.
However from my experience which is limited to my own there is
usually only one winner and that is the solicitors. Their fees
will plunder the trust unless the trust solicitors are
altruistic. Unlikely…
My brother turned out to be a complete ****** if you read my
woeful tale on here.
I wouldn’t **** on him if he was slowly burning to death with
what he has put me through in the last 3 years.
I’ve bloodied his nose and his plan to defraud me didn’t work
out too well for him but it’s cost me £28-£35k and I need to
consider whether to force my mum’s solicitors first through the
Senior Courts Cost Office and then the High Courts.
#Post#: 55590--------------------------------------------------
Re: Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sib
ling trustee
By: ManxTom Date: January 28, 2025, 11:14 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[member=2355]markie76[/member] - I'm not sure if you are
likely to see this as you haven't posted on this thread for
several months, but if you do see it I suggest you post on the
Legal Beagles website:
HTML https://legalbeagles.inf
o/forums/forum/legal-forums/wills-probate-and-bereavement
#Post#: 55633--------------------------------------------------
Re: Beneficiary denied access/income to inheritance trust by sib
ling trustee
By: markie76 Date: January 28, 2025, 2:03 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I'm so sorry I seem to have missed previous reply notifications
for this thread... :-\
[quote author=roythebus link=topic=3457.msg43196#msg43196
date=1730318261]
How about one of the "help the aged" type charities?
[/quote]
I looked at a few but didn't seem anything along those lines is
something they do/offer. If you know of any then certainly
something to explore. However, my friend wouldn't yet classify
as "aged", they're not yet close to pension age.
[quote author=mickR link=topic=3457.msg43199#msg43199
date=1730318764]
wouldn't happen to be Which? magazine members
are they? they could help.
or legal help as part of the house insurance?
[/quote]
I don't think they do any magazine subscriptions. House
insurance is a good shout but they may not have any due to their
situation or it may be pretty basic without the bells &
whistles. I will check with them.
[quote author=Southpaw82 link=topic=3457.msg43202#msg43202
date=1730319794]
[quote author=markie76 link=topic=3457.msg43141#msg43141
date=1730297349]
[quote author=The Slithy Tove link=topic=3457.msg43059#msg43059
date=1730274895]
Has your friend approached Citizens Advice? It may well be
beyond their capabilities, but worth a try.
[/quote]
Yes beyond their service and something that needs to go legal.
Thus I was hoping the 'legal advice' section could provide some
advice.
[/quote]
Possibly but it would take a lot of time and a lot more
information than you’ve currently provided. I think it’s
unlikely you’ll get the sort of help needed from here.
[/quote]
Yes, I was just trying to provide an outline without being too
specific on a public forum. I was just looking for a general
opinion or seeing as 'legally' minded people frequent these
forums, someone might know 'a friend-of-a-friend' that was
involved in/worked on something similar and could give some
advice or relay likely outcomes.
[quote author=Hroogar link=topic=3457.msg54779#msg54779
date=1737662630]
I am so sorry to hear of your friend’s issue.
I’ve been going through a contentious probate issue for 3 years
and it’s not cheap....
[/quote]
Sounds like you have also had a nightmare experience with your
brother and it's just sad people exist who are capable of
conning & cheating even their own family at such emotional
times. I would try and finish him & his solicitors off
particularly as you say there is a possibility they have done it
to more people.
I did look at law schools and the University of Law offers pro
bono in family law in a couple of their locations. But my friend
currently has some health issues which have to take priority.
We had discussed making a formal complaint and the LO but paused
wondering whether it might make the current situation worse or
if the LO actually has any real power/say in issues like this.
[quote author=ManxTom link=topic=3457.msg55590#msg55590
date=1738084466]
[member=2355]markie76[/member] - I'm not sure if you are
likely to see this as you haven't posted on this thread for
several months, but if you do see it I suggest you post on the
Legal Beagles website:
HTML https://legalbeagles.inf
o/forums/forum/legal-forums/wills-probate-and-bereavement
[/quote]
Thank you for your post and I will post on that site as it looks
a good lead. :)
Thank you all.
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