Third party money/care management

[MikeC]

I want to set up a trust to ensure that my learning disabled son will enjoy similar benefits from my passing as his 3 siblings. The problem is that if he simply received extra income with complete freedom to spend it how he wished he would quickly be surrounded with ‘friends’ all eager to benefit from his generosity which would almost certainly lead to a poorer quality of life and early demise. He needs help to spend the money wisely and to ensure that he looks forward to costly events such as holidays, that need to be saved for. When he knows that extra money is available he can apply quite a lot of pressure for the release of it. So giving this task to one of his able siblings is rather a poison chalice. Is there an organisation that could take a personal interest in him and his interests who could undertake this difficult but vital task?

[frances_is_a_sibling]

Hi @MikeC - This is a really good question and something that a lot of parents wonder about - you’re not alone. I’m a sibling myself, my brother has severe learning disabilities and I also have a non-disabled sister. You can set up a discretionary trust for your son, and it can be managed by a solicitor (or an organisation like Mencap) - your other adult sons/daughters don’t have to be trustees of it. You can leave a letter of wishes, advising how you would like the money to be spent and the solicitor/organisation should follow that. Have a look at the other wills and trusts threads on here (I’m sorry I don’t know how to link threads in a post - but maybe @SarahL can help with this?) and also have a look at the mencap advice too - I’ve found it really helpful: https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/wills-and-trusts-service

Let us know how you get on

[SarahL]

Hi there

I think you have found the right expert thread Wills and trusts - advice and support

There is also a lot of info in our Planning Ahead section

thanks
Sarah