<p>Hello all, I was hoping for some advice about what to do regarding financial aid for my little brother. Our mother recently passed away and she handled all the financial stuff regarding college. She left her estate in a living trust, which I'm hoping will protect it from being considered when my brother's financial aid is assessed. (he's a sophomore, i'm a dropout, i may want to go back later, but right now he's the concern). She also had two investment accounts specifically for education for my brother and I with Vanguard. They (vanguard) say we need to transfer the title to those either to my brother and i, or to our trustees in order to access that money to pay for his schooling/the remainder of my loans. I'm guessing it's probably best to transfer it to the trust, but honestly i'm a little out of my depth here. My mom used this site and I know she found it very helpful. So I was hoping i might get some answers, or maybe a recommendation of where i could go to educate myself more about this.
I know she had some friends on here, I want to say they it was in a thread or subgroup called the vigil lounge. I'd like to let them know, but i haven't been able to find it. If someone could tell me whether thats still around, i would be very grateful. Thank you.</p>
<p>Is this what you were looking for? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1453829-support-vigil-sunriseast.html?highlight=vigil+sunriseeast[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1453829-support-vigil-sunriseast.html?highlight=vigil+sunriseeast</a></p>
<p>Sorry to hear about your mom. And good for you that you’re trying to plan ahead for your brother!</p>
<p>My understanding is that a trust will not protect those assets from being taken into consideration when your brother applies for aid. Ordinarily, the best investment strategy is a 529 account, which would be treated as a parent asset, rather than a student assets. But my understanding is that your dad is also not in the picture - or am I mistaken about that? If the 529 account is held by anyone other than a parent, then the funds would be treated as income when they’re paid to your brother to cover college expenses - and that definitely wouldn’t work!</p>
<p>The difficulty with all of this is that investment advisors are often not familiar with school financial aid policies, and people savvy about financial aid are often not familiar with asset management. The trick is to find people who understand both. CC is probably the best place to start!</p>
<p>About finding your mom’s friends . . . do you know what her username was?</p>
<p>2blue- was your brother getting need based financial aid from school or was it loans or merit money?</p>
<p>hey thanks guys. To answer your questions, my brother was receiving need based aid. My dad died about a decade back so I’m afraid the parental account you mentioned isn’t an option. Yeah i’m trying to learn more about this financial aid process (my brother is as well, he’s just a little busier what with heading back to school for the new term that started yesterday). He’s heading to their financial aid office to try and learn what he can, i’m just hoping to get him some information to go in there with. </p>
<p>Oh and my mom’s username, i believe, was 2blue. If anyone who knew her reads this, please just let me know. Thanks for being so nice, i really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Okay, found her!</p>
<p>What I’d suggest is using the “search” function at the very top of the page (not the “search this thread” or “search this forum” button - but the “search” link that’s in the blue bar at the very top of the page). Click on “advanced search,” and then search for all threads started by your mom (NOT all posts), in ALL forums (not just financial aid). You’ll find many, including this one that’s still in current use:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/455586-fafsa-more-than-10-schools-avoid-my-mistake.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/455586-fafsa-more-than-10-schools-avoid-my-mistake.html</a></p>
<p>If you look through those threads, you may be able to identify the users she communicated with the most. If that’s not enough, you can go back and do a search for all posts by your mother . . . there will be a lot of them, though!</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!!!</p>
<p>Hi 2Blue, I’m a financial advisor and I do understand account titling, etc. quite well. I’ll try to help here if I can. Very sorry for your loss.</p>
<p>You’ll need to get more specific information on how the accounts are titled. A “living trust” does NOT outlive the grantor (your mom) so those assets will no longer be in a living trust. The living trust will have discussed how to distribute living trust assets so you’ll need to find out how they get distributed. She may have had the LT set up another trust at death to hold the assets and be managed by a trustee for the benefit of her children - is that what happened?</p>
<p>Did she have any retirement/IRA/401k accounts? Those would pass by beneficiary, NOT the LT so check that out.</p>
<p>How were the Vanguard accounts titled. They were “for education” you say, but that could be anything - how were they titled?</p>
<p>It’s a ton to do for someone new to it all! Just take it one step at a time. Get the account documents, call the company, whatever - just remember, it’s not the INTENT of the accounts, it’s all about how they’re titled. Don’t guess, read it. Read the living trust, it will tell you what happens to the assets.</p>
<p>Good luck. Post back any specific info you find and we’ll try to help out.</p>
<p>You guys are fantastic. Thanks for helping me out Dodgersmom. I feel a little silly for not finding that myself, but I guess i messed up my search somehow. Thanks a ton. And rundmc123, I am getting that information now and will update when I have it. Thanks a ton. My mom always enjoyed being part of this community, and I can see why.</p>