Minnie’s Musings

Trust Fund Baby was a term bandied about for many years to highlight the wealth afforded to the offspring of the fabulously rich who populate gossip columns and Made in Chelsea.

However parents of disabled children across the land also take out trust funds. These are not million pound pots but rather safety pots to stow monies for vital expenses such as legal fees when you have to take County to court over provision. We set one up for His Nibs alongside power of attorney and Court of Protection deputyship. It took and takes forever (she says as she contemplates annual accounts due in shortly).

This is a long and arduous process which is hideously complex and difficult to navigate. We were guided through the process by an expert in these matters but I still spent several weeks panicking that we had done something wrong when His Nibs was transferred to Universal Credit this Summer and his finances were put under the microscope.

Add divorce and property into the equation and you will be doubly mired in a legal quagmire. Which is why I have every sympathy for Angela Rayner. She was given duff advice from a professional (now three according to BBC News) and acted on it in good faith. She is now rectifying the error.

The media is having a field day digging around in the back passages of this government, and calling out those who are doing wrong. In some cases, rightly so.

But in Rayner’s case the picture is more nuanced. And should be treated as such. And should be viewed through a more compassionate, informed lens. As a special needs parent you spend your life having the realities of your home life exposed to all and sundry which can be painful and humiliating when it is just social services and the DWP. When the national media start on a muck taking mission this exacerbates an already horrible experience.

I have two suspicions:

One is that those who live and work in Westminster are aware of Rayner’s personal situation and are treating her with informed compassion. Hence Badenoch’s rather muted attack in the House of Commons.

My second is that the media gun for Rayner because she is the embodiment of several bette noirs: a single mother, a divorcee and someone who may have had the temerity to have claimed benefits (shock horror) at a time of need. Oh and I forgot the other bits. She’s a woman and she is working class.

So, if you are outraged over your cornflakes, imagine that you too have a child with high, life long needs and you need to ensure that those needs are met well after you have pottered off your mortal coil. Now think about your will sitting in your filing cabinet. Quadruple the pages. Quadruple the time and effort you put in to drawing it up. And quadruple the attendant fees. Add in a sprinkling of exposing the very private issues you face on a daily basis and you might come somewhere close.