Hi danhardlaw,

All reasonable expenditure should be included in a Trust Deed and this also includes child maintenance.

It’s a good idea to give your Trustee a call and discuss the change in your financial circumstances and they can then carry out a review.

Many thanks for the advice. I also wanted to check what the position is regarding a redundancy payout I received a few months back. I had to use a few thousand pounds to fix things in the house and car and also pay back family members for previously borrowed money. I have a few thousand pounds left. Should i send this to my trustee as i recently was recently made aware they might have wanted all of less some expenses? What are my implications here?

Hi danhardlaw.

You should have notified your trustee of the payout at the time. They could have let you know what, if any, of the payment you could keep. This might have included the statutory payment element for example.

You should make the trustee aware of the situation ASAP. They'll be able to let you know how much is due to be paid over to them, and the consequences should you not be in a position to do so.

Hi danhardlaw,

The redundancy is something which you definitely need to speak with your Trustee about as soon as possible. You are entitled to retain your statutory redundancy payment but if you received an enhanced package/more than the statutory amount then the Trustee can consider ingathering these funds.

If your Trustee is entitled to ingather a proportion of your redundancy but you have spent the funds then they could consider extending your Trust Deed to recover the funds.

Let us know how you get on once you speak with your Trustee.

Hi David. What is the statutory amount I would be entitled to keep?

Hi Dan,

From gov.uk:

"You’ll normally be entitled to statutory redundancy pay if you’re an employee and you’ve been working for your current employer for 2 years or more.

You’ll get:

Half a week’s pay for each full year you were under 22
One week’s pay for each full year you were 22 or older, but under 41
One and half week’s pay for each full year you were 41 or older

Length of service is capped at 20 years.

If you were made redundant on or after 6 April 2017, your weekly pay is capped at £489 and the maximum statutory redundancy pay you can get is £14,670. If you were made redundant before 6 April 2017, these amounts will be lower."

That's great as I should be able to satisfy that requirement. I will speak to them to confirm. thanks again.

Hi danhardlaw.

When you received this redundancy settlement I'd have thought you would have received a notification breaking down the respective elements of it.

Did you keep any paperwork from this time?

hi dan,

As TDA has advised you might have received a breakdown of your redundancy which would have confirmed what you received and if this was all statutory or if there was an enhanced amount.

Double check it all and give your Trustee a call to inform them and keep yourself right. They will also need to know about a new employer and their contact details.