Tuesday, January 26, 2016

In which Ted is plotting to drain his son's trust for probably his own nefarious ends

Ted is back.

You thought he was gone, didn't you? You thought that Primo sending him some of the money Ted wanted - not the $875 a ticket for the frequent flier tickets - but some of it - would be enough to get Ted to shut. up.

You would think that being reimbursed to attend his own father's funeral would be enough for Ted.

Oh but you would be wrong.

Ted informed Primo that he would send him a "tally" (Ted loves that word) of Ted'sSon's school expenses.

We are talking junior high and high school. Not college.

In Ted's defense, he and his wife had to send their son to a private school because he had educational needs that could not be addressed by the public schools. So there is that.

However.

The function of the trust is for current and future expenses. The trust lasts until the grandkids turn 30. Ted'sSon is 19, I think. Is it possible that there might be future expenses that Ted'sSon might want to incur in the next 30 years? Shouldn't Ted'sSon get a chance to ask for money from the trust?

15 comments:

  1. Perhaps Primo needs to tell ted that only son-of-ted can request funds, and only for expenses starting the day sly died. actually, that latter is probably right. the trust probably began legally then, so previous expenses would not be reimbursable. yet another question for an attorney.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope the trust is already split into quarters. I'm pretty sure the one in our will is only split in half when our older child turns 25 and gets their first 1/3 of their lump portion. Before that, it's about expenses.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Primo needs to resign as trustee and let someone else take over. Preferably a lawyer, whose fee can be paid out of the trust, which I'm sure Ted will love, but that's what he gets for being a glassbowl.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw crap, PLEASE tell me that Ted isn't the successor trustee. Are any successors named in the trust documents? If not, Primo probably can appoint whoever he wants, it's just a question of finding someone who is willing to take over. There's some information about professional trustees here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/who-should-you-trust-to-oversee-a-family-trust-1421340638

      Delete
  4. I thought Ted would try to get hold of the monies. But even this is a bit much. Sly may have not been the best but it looks like he got good advice about how to set up this trust. And really parents do know their children, just too often they want to be "fair". It's just that fair may not be best.

    ReplyDelete
  5. If Ted-son is 19, then Ted has no claim at all for anything from the trust, lining his own pockets for "back-pay" for this kids, I am pretty sure that is not legal. (auto correct tried to change legal to legs!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. And changed his kids to this kids, I hate auto-correct.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am no lawyer but it seems to me that if the son is 19 Ted is way outta line. And if Ted has POA or something to take care of son, I would go to court to make sure that money goes to son's current circumstances.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am not a lawyer, but I would be very concerned that this particular request would be actual malfeasance to grant.

    The trust is for the child. If Ted wants to start asking for all future expenses to be reimbursed from the trust, that's legitimate, but money that has already been spent has already been spent. This is a not-terribly-veiled attempt to find a pretext to take money away from his son. His parents paid for his school.

    If I inherited money tomorrow, my parents don't get to demand I pay them back for my school costs, since if I'd had the money then, they wouldn't have paid for it.

    This is the exact same thing. Ted's son inherited that money. If there was no trust, would he demand his son turn over cash to him? (Well, maybe yes. But Primo's job as trustee is to protect the son's interests, and he can't let himself be bullied the way a son might be by his father.)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am not a lawyer, but I would be very concerned that this particular request would be actual malfeasance to grant.

    The trust is for the child. If Ted wants to start asking for all future expenses to be reimbursed from the trust, that's legitimate, but money that has already been spent has already been spent. This is a not-terribly-veiled attempt to find a pretext to take money away from his son. His parents paid for his school.

    If I inherited money tomorrow, my parents don't get to demand I pay them back for my school costs, since if I'd had the money then, they wouldn't have paid for it.

    This is the exact same thing. Ted's son inherited that money. If there was no trust, would he demand his son turn over cash to him? (Well, maybe yes. But Primo's job as trustee is to protect the son's interests, and he can't let himself be bullied the way a son might be by his father.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. He sure is desperate and money hungry...I would tell him so and that the son's inheritance will only be discussed with the son in the future...but Primo is probably much nicer and more patient than I could be. I would be worried he would try to take money from the son after he gets it...especially if the son is easily influenced.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I would request documentation from the school, and from Ted that he has pursued this if it's not happening:

    When public schools cannot meet the needs of a child with a learning (or other) disability, the state is required to pick up some/all of the cost of the private school that can. Now there are limits to that - you have to prove that the school has the required programs/instructors/child is making progress, AND you can't just send them to "the best one there is, no matter the cost!". You are required to work with the state to send your child to the most cost effective school that is capable of helping them. If you choose to send them elsewhere, the state can then reimburse you for only what they would have paid for the other school.

    Obviously this setup varies some from state to state, but the general structure applies across all states as far as I'm aware.

    Because I would not put it past Ted to bill the state AND bill the trust for the same tuition fee that the state already covered.

    - AC

    ReplyDelete
  12. For those pointing out that Ted's Son is 19, he also has disabilities, which is why I think the trust was created. I got the impression that the trust was to pay for his care, although it depends on how the trust was structured, but normally if a trust is created for someone, anyone can submit for expenses for the beneficiary. It's up to the trustee to decide if those are allowable disbursements according to the trust, which is why I think Primo should appoint a professional trustee.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Why does Primo let Ted bully him? Is this a relationship that he really wants to preserve? He should turn the trust over to a lawyer and if Ted cuts ties with him over it, so much the better.

    In any case, it sounds like Primo needs to put this stuff behind him so that he can look for a job :-)

    If Ted is indeed trying to drain his disabled son's trust for personal gain, he is the worst of men.

    ReplyDelete