Baffling Will/Trust Saga

[miffed]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

I have a baffling Will/Trust scenario and would like some input.

My grandmother passed away last year and left me as the executor of her will. She left money to each of her grandchildren including two of my siblings kids. The sibling in question went thru a lengthy divorce with their spouse which ended a month or two after my grandmothers passing. During the final divorce hearing the spouse requested that the Judge give them access to these funds for education.(I think that was the request) The judge ruled that he had no authority on the issue. He stated that to the end the funds were made available they could be used for education if they were not available the ex was responsbile for education expenses.

A few months after their divorce was final I received a relatively threatening letter from the Ex's attorney(Also my attorney that drafted the will)
stating sufficient time had passed and the money must be put in a trust. I called their office and asked them to assist me in getting the trust created. After several months of waiting an assistant showed up at my house with paperwork to sign. Before signing I noticed the account number on the paperwork was incorrect and called my brokerage to verify. I learned from the brokerage that two accounts had been setup for the children and the ex was listed as the custodian. After speaking with the assistant the Ex basically wants access to the funds to pay for the children's high school expenses.

My grandmother wanted this money used for College or their first home - not for this. I have consulted another attorney over the phone and it doesn't appear that I can be forced to deposit the money into the ex's bank account. Yet the firm involved is insisting that I put the money in a trust with the ex as the custodian.

What should I do? I hate to incur more attorney fees over the issue. The Ex and my sibling share joint custody of the children. Why must I list the ex as the custodian?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

What is the EXACT language of the will in regards to the sibling's children?

 

[Dandy Don]

Was the money that was left for the kids in the will or in the trust or in both? If in both, then, as you have been asked, please cite the language used for their specific bequests.

This is obviously a greedy attempt by the ex to grab control of this money unlawfully--perhaps the ex is even attempting to use it for a different purpose than "high school" educational expenses. Give me a break!!! They probably attend public high school--just out of curiosity, you should ask the ex to produce a budget describing how the money will be spent.

As trustee you have complete legal discretion to how you want to issue this money. Generally, as you have stated, the concept/rule is that the money should be used for COLLEGE educational expenses, and so you can correctly refuse to pay for the reason they are submitting. How much money are we talking about here? You should stand your ground and politely decline to pay it. And please find out who the alternate or successor trustee will be in the event that you die and someone else will need to handle this responsibility in the future.

Legal custody is not an issue here. When the term custodian is used it is referring to who is going to be the custodian of the trust money, which in this case is you, but the parent might be the custodian if you transferred the money over to him/her, but under normal circumstances this money is supposed to be held in trust until the minor reaches a certain age and theoretically the custodian does not have access to be able to spend it on him/herself.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])