<p>
</p>
<p>Perhaps. But as I stated earlier, you need to get copies of the will and all trust documents and review them, preferably with legal counsel. The will and trust documents, if your husband doesn’t have them, should be available through the probate court where the will was probated.</p>
<p>Will do, dodgersmom! Thank you so much for all your help, everyone!</p>
<p>Since your ultimate question pertains to the FAFSA, inquire in advance how familiar the accountant is with FAFSA. Not all are to the same degree.</p>
<p>There has to be an attorney administering the trust. Can you find out who that is and get him/her (or their paralegal) to answer your questions?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, no, not necessarily. According to the OP, her husband’s uncle is the executor of the trust. An attorney would be hired (by the executor) only as necessary, and his or her fees would be paid by the trust.</p>
<p>If your husband is the beneficiary of a trust, he is required to list the value of that trust on your FAFSA even if he has NO access to it. So, if his share of the trust is $200,000, he must list that as an asset on your FAFSA form.</p>
<p>Did you recieve a Schedule K-1 from the trust for the 6,000? If yes, it is income that is taxed by the IRS. If not, it is return of the principal and should not be taxable by the IRS. If the trust is listed as an asset on the FAFSA form then I would think the 6000 would not have to be mentioned.</p>
<p>I suspect that when control transfers to your husband, the trust will disolved. </p>
<p>Do you have a copy of the trust? That is what governs how the money is distributed. If you don’t have a copy and the uncle will not give you a copy, you might be able to get a copy from the probate office where the will was probated. If the trustee is not following the trust requirements then you should be able to have the court appoint a new trustee. You should not have to beg if your request is allowed by the terms of the trust. Legally, the trustee must abide by the terms of the trust. The trust might allow funds to be released for your husband education but might not have considered the education needs of the spouse. Your husband’s uncle might have bent the rules (illegally) with the 6000. The trust also probably allows you to ask for a full accounting of the assets on a regular basis.</p>
<p>If the uncle has stolen from the trust, you do have legal recourse. Keep in mind that the trust might allow him to legally take a fee for managing the trust. Again, the trust should define what is and is not allowed. Keep in mind there is work involved in managing a trust. Could be simple or it could be complex. A professional trustee will charge a fee.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for all of the replies. The trust does not have its own attorney but we are in contact with a lawyer in the state of RI who is familiar with the entire family.</p>
<p>I have a follow-up question… for the 2011-2012 school year, I did attend one semester and received financial aid. On the 2011-2012 FAFSA, I did not disclose the trust fund - I didn’t even know it existed until a few months ago (when I was combing through our bank accounts because one of our cards was stolen). I received $4,000 in loans (our EFC for 2011-2012 was quite high because we were both working full-time) - about half subsidized, half unsubsidized.</p>
<p>Obviously I did not intend to defraud the government and I will willingly pay back anything that was paid out to me based on my error - but is this something I could be arrested for? What are my next steps from here? I assume I can’t just submit the correction via FAFSA.gov for last year.</p>
<p>You did not know about the trust at the time, so you did not commit fraud. The year is now over, so you are not able to go back and change anything. Just include the trust from here on out.</p>