Saving For Child But Controlled By Both Parents

rjenk74

Hi

My Wife and I have been regular saving for my son whose is just over 2 (child benefit and the odd extra bit) so as to give him a start when he’s older, such as a car, university, house etc.

Currently he has £3600 in last year’s ISA which is in my name, as well as about £1000 in a joint bank account in mine and my wife’s name, which we both can withdraw as we wish.

Now unfortunately my wife and I are splitting up and heading for divorce, her idea, and a whole other thread on how she messed me up but hey ho! However we still wish to carry on saving for our son.

So, can you advise on what are the options for saving for my son with the following caveats?

1. It’s not in my son’s name, or at least, it’s not a saving vehicle that my wife and I have no control over and he could just get the money at 16/18/21 (as I know what I was like a that age) such as the child trust fund.
2. A product/account that both my wife and I can put money in, but we need both signatures to get it out. This is not necessarily a must but if its easily achieved it may be best as whilst we are trying to be amicable now who knows what the future holds.
3. Something that we can regularly save would be nice, however we can accepts a once a year deposit if it’s worth it and just keep the money elsewhere until that time
4. We are more than happy to have more than one product, such as one for the money we currently have (£4600) and one for any new deposits like a regular saver, just so long as the first 3 rules apply.
5. Errr I think that’s it?

Any help and advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks very much for you time

Regards
Rich

rjenk74

a little nudge in case anyone has any advice :-)

thanks

alanq

Why the need to have a joint account with your future ex-wife for your son? Couldn't you just each open one (or more) for him and control those? If things turn nasty or you lose contact with her you don't want to be seeking a second signature.

Lokolo

alanq wrote: »

Why the need to have a joint account with your future ex-wife for your son? Couldn't you just each open one (or more) for him and control those? If things turn nasty or you lose contact with her you don't want to be seeking a second signature.

^^ this.

If you have a joint account you both have a linked credit history. And if one of you goes AWOL and ends up getting in a lot of debt, this could effect the other person.

Reaper

An ISA is the most tax efficeint but will have to be held in your own individual names not the child's, and that person can do whatever they want with the money.

Better may be to put it in trust with you both acting as trustees. It means the money then legally belongs to the child and if the trustees withdraw money early then it must be used purely to benefit the child.

I strongly favour investments over savings as it is for the long term. If you are happy to do the same then do a search and you will see endless threads I have answered on this topic, e.g. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2746434

rjenk74

Thanks so much for the replies, much appreciated.

The reason we was thinking of two signatures is whilst everything is moving amicably for now, as other posters have mentioned when discussing divorce, this may not continue to be so (I never expected the wife to do this!), so we are just trying to protect my son’s investment from, I suppose, each other, though as you say, the joint signature is not the way forward and could lead to other troubles in future.

We did originally think of just splitting what he has and saving independently, but again, were worried that either of us could renege and simply spend our half on something else.

Reaper that idea of a trust sounds intriguing, and yes we would definitely be interested in investments as opposed to just savings, or possibly a mixture of the two. If we were to both act as trustees, does this give us to right to take money out without the others say so, but only at the benefit of our child, as if so this sounds like a very good solution. And yes I would definitely like to put a fairly hi age limit on it, as I know what I was like at 18 and 21 J I will check out their website.

Again thanks for the responses and any others are more than welcome.

Regards
Rich

Reaper

rjenk74 wrote: »

Reaper that idea of a trust sounds intriguing, and yes we would definitely be interested in investments as opposed to just savings, or possibly a mixture of the two. If we were to both act as trustees, does this give us to right to take money out without the others say so, but only at the benefit of our child, as if so this sounds like a very good solution.

Check the T&C but I believe it is normal to require the signatures of all the trustees (in your case the parents) to withdraw money before the end of the term.

MyLastFiver

rjenk74 wrote: »

We did originally think of just splitting what he has and saving independently, but again, were worried that either of us could renege and simply spend our half on something else.

Well, you are not intending to renege are you? And it doesn't sound like your ex is either, if she's worried about you doing it

Just split it and walk away. In the future, your son will be angry with whichever parent blew their half of the money. And no divorced parent wants this!