Hi all,
So this is a scenario in my paranormal murder mystery…
Victoria and Caleb’s family died in an unexplained fire when they were both ten years old. There were no living relatives (supposedly.) V and C are cousins and very close.
They go into the foster system. HOWEVER… they get mysterious regular payments from an unknown source until they’re both 21 years old. Nobody has ever been able to find out anything more about it.
Is this a plausible scenario?
It’s pretty simple. No implausibility. The only problem might be the means the mystery benefactor has of locating the kids. It’s not information that would be given away to a non-family member. But there’s no reason an envelope of cash with no return address can’t show up every month once the addresseses are known, and a skilled detective could find those addresses. It might be easier for a paranormal detective.
Good idea! 
Okay, here’s another question, because the characters haven’t told me exactly how everything actually happened yet… I mean, I haven’t, um, invented and written it yet… yes, that’s it… 
What if the children had property that had been owned by their family and also money from them? What would happen to it all? Would it be used for their care? Passed on to them at the age of 18?
What? And who would actually be the executor for them?
Thanks!
2.) The other possibility is that they have a great-uncle who was gone at the time of the fire and then returned afterwards. Being the only living relative remaining, he ended up with the kids. He’s also the financial executor.
In my state, pretty much any relative would be considered before allowing the children to become wards of the state. For that matter, any interested party–which could include family friends–could seek custody, adoption, or guardianship of the children. If the children were 12 or older, they would have a right to express a preference, if any, concerning their custody, but the Court is not bound by said preference. Also, in my state, whether a guardianship was established or the children went into foster care, any property they owned or inherited would be placed into a trust and managed for their benefit–meaning that the funds could only be accessed with court approval, and only for necessary expenses, until the children reach the age of majority. These matters are usually addressed in wills, which wealthy families are likely to have prepared.
In theory, the same should happen to “mysterious envelopes of cash” addressed to the child and suddenly appearing. In actual practice, cash has a way of disappearing as suddenly as it appears. The “mysterious benefactor” would have no way of ensuring the money went to the children, or was spent for their benefit. Further, he would have no way of holding anyone accountable for the cash…barring some Batman style vigilante action.
Simplest way, surely, would be to have the payments made through some sort of financial institution, possibly foreign, Swiss maybe, and from an anonymous trust fund set up for the purpose. The foster home might get an annual visit from a lawyer to ensure probity.
This is similar to the premise of the Lemony Snicket series… and Great Expectations. Perfectly plausible to me.
Funny that you should mention GE… a very Victorian house plays a major role in the fic later on.
The children had no other living relatives at the time. (Or at least that’s what was THOUGHT… ) Nobody else could be found to step forward and take them in.
Since everyone is so helpful, here’s the scenario for the other main character, Nate:
His relatives also died mysteriously when he was 10 years old. However, that family did have a lot of money (Vic and Caleb’s didn’t have anywhere near as much), and it was available for Nate’s care. One great-uncle supposedly survived, but nobody has ever seen him since that night. He never leaves the mysterious mansion, you see… There has always been a caretaker for the estate who has the legal right to manage everything. In that case, would a child be left to the care of the one remaining relative without anyone actually ever needing to see him?
Possible, though less plausible than your earlier situation. In the modern world it would be unlikely that a minor would be placed in the care of a relative sight unseen. More so when there is a lot of money involved. However, given sufficient evidence that the great-uncle was alive, capable of seeing to the child’s welfare, and having able legal representation, it probably could be done. It would be much easier if the parents had indicated this relative to be the guardian in the case of their deaths. There’s a good chance the child would be appointed legal representation, and the rich uncle required to pay for it, but even then there’s little reason for such a representative to deny the guardianship which would be greatly beneficial for the child just because the old man was reclusive.
Despite all that, it’s not unreasonable in the modern world for a child to be taken in by a relative without any legal proceedings at all. If the child were home schooled, and the uncle in this case could afford a tutor, there may be no reason for the state to get involved at all.
Of course, the simplest way to “pay out” from an anonymous source is to have a law firm advance the money as a cheque from their trust fund every month. That takes care of the money trail, and a law firm under “attorney-client privilege” could plausibly and apologetically say “I’m sorry, we cannot divulge the name of our client”.
(Unless the law got involved, I imagine - there would have to be a good reason to compel the lawyers to divulge their banking actvity or client name, evidence of on-going illegal activity, proceeds of crime? )
I suppose, technically, there are a lot of situations where a child is being raised by someone without the formal paperwork - leaving the kid with grandma or auntie is a common scenario. As long as everyone assumes the “guardian” has the right to sign for medical treatment, school registration, etc. - how often does someone demand proof? Especially today, there are a lot of kids running around with different last names, sometimes one parent is not even actually their parent, yet acts like one, etc. Again, as long as someone does not call the police or demand proof of legal guardianship, what stops you?
(Unless you have to travel outside the country nowadays with said illegally acquired orphan. To get a passport, I imagine there are all sorts of forms to sign under penalty of law; plus, with the concern over parental abductions and worse, most first-world countries want proof of of consent of the other parent, etc. )
When someone dies and there is an estate to be settled - a structure of will, executor, and proper disposition of the child’s guardianship, and the executor must establish a trust with oversight to ensure the child’s inheritance is not taken by the guardian except for basic necessities. As mentioned, when someone dies, unless there is an executor, the local legal system appoints the executor, trustee, etc. with power to sell property, establish trust, etc. nothing is simple or easy to sweep under the rug.