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Lupine
Member
| Joined: | Thu May 17th, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 143 |
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Posted: Thu Feb 14th, 2008 07:15 pm |
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I've just taken over handling paperwork for my mother-in-law; something I did for both my parents when they were alive. But my folks had essentially no assets and not quite enough income.
My mother-in-law's situation is different. Due to Southern California housing prices (even after the recent meltdown) her house is in a family trust she established, along with a checking account and several brokerage accounts with some reasonably healthy balances, the interest from which forms a good part of her cashflow.
I have a Power of Atty. to deal with most things, but the brokerage folks are telling us that I need to be a trustee in order to do some of what's necessary, and the lawyer thinks that I should be a trustee so that there is seamless continuity if my MIL becomes incapacitated or dies.
I'm ok with that, but I don't want to do that if it is going to mess up financial aid for my daughter when she applies to college next year. The only person receiving any disbursals from the trust is my MIL, and before he died, my FIL.
The lawyer doesn't know from Adam about financial aid. I would really like to avoid making a major goof here, so any advice would be very much appreciated.
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CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3329 |
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Posted: Thu Feb 14th, 2008 07:30 pm |
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I may be wrong, but I believe that being a trustee of a trust is different from being a co-owner of assets. Trusts are usually set up with their own tax ID and are expressly written for the benefit of a particular person(s) or for particular uses.
It wouldn't hurt to call one or two financial aid offices to confirm this, but since the assets are being held "in trust" specifically for your mother in laws care, and you won't be able to use them for your own uses, you will not be entering them on your financial aid forms as assets available to pay for educational expenses.
The situation is very different when the trust is set up in a child's name. I know for a fact that it is then considered "available" to help pay for educational expenses, unless the trust is written to preclude that.
Last edited on Thu Feb 14th, 2008 07:34 pm by CarolynLawrence
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jocelynDAD
Member
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Posted: Thu Feb 14th, 2008 11:54 pm |
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A Trustee is acting for someone else, not themselves. It is not your finances, nor your child.
Forget that the Trust is family, that does not change it at all. You could be a trustee for a charity, that would be the same as being a Trustee for a 'family' member, In neither case would your finances or financial situation be altered.
I think your concern is when the trust (on the sad event of your MIL death) is dissolved, your daughter and yourself are beneficiaries. That situation is wholely different and frankly is irrelevant as it is not current and is only a future possibility.
Last edited on Fri Feb 15th, 2008 03:17 am by jocelynDAD
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Lupine
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| Joined: | Thu May 17th, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 143 |
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Posted: Fri Feb 15th, 2008 12:00 am |
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Thanks -- we certainly hope my MIL enjoys a good long life.
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