Joint Savings Accounts - is such a thing possible?

GingerFurball_2

Have set up my daughter's CTF and will be saving regularly into it to give her a lump sum when she turns 18.

However, both me and my girlfriend don't want to dump all our savings for her in a CTF as there's no control over how the money's used - if she wants to throw it all away then there's nothing we can do to stop her.

I want to put money aside to help her pay for halls/rent when she's at uni, and I'll be doing this under our own names so that when our daughter is 18 we can release the money in dribs and drabs as we see fit.

I'm aware that I could just set up a savings account in my name and have both of us pay into it, but what I'm wondering is whether me and my girlfriend can have one account that's in both our names - if all the savings were in my name, and something unexpected were to happen to me, I would want to make sure that the missus would then assume full control over the account - as we're not married just now, if we end up married to other people I wouldn't want the savings we'd put aside for our daughter to be an asset a future wife could claim from my estate should anything happen to me.

Wyndham

There is a way to have an account for a child that is under 18, but that the parents (or other adult) are responsible for. I forget the name though, but it's probably worth looking around at children's accounts on various websites to get an idea. There are two ways to do it I think - one where the parents hold money but it is classed as belonging to them, the other where it is classed as belonging to the child. I think you'd want the second, and I can't see why you and your girlfriend can't both be named on it.

Just a note though, with this sort of account the money will become wholly your daughter's when she turns 18. If you don't want her to have it at that point, then you need to set up an account in your name instead, but that won't be seen as her money should anything happen.

GingerFurball_2

Wyndham wrote: »

There is a way to have an account for a child that is under 18, but that the parents (or other adult) are responsible for. I forget the name though, but it's probably worth looking around at children's accounts on various websites to get an idea. There are two ways to do it I think - one where the parents hold money but it is classed as belonging to them, the other where it is classed as belonging to the child. I think you'd want the second, and I can't see why you and your girlfriend can't both be named on it.

Just a note though, with this sort of account the money will become wholly your daughter's when she turns 18. If you don't want her to have it at that point, then you need to set up an account in your name instead, but that won't be seen as her money should anything happen.

I'd want the first, so that we control when our daughter gets the money we've put aside for her - whether that be as a monthly allowance when she's at uni, or paying accomodation fees/rent, or gifting it to her as a deposit on a house should she stay at home for uni.

The issue is what happens should we save that money in my name (or my gf's name) only, and the person who's name the money is in marries someone else in the future - would that money then not be an asset for the spouse to claim in the event of divorce/death, when the money was intended for our daughter?

It wouldn't be an issue if we stay together - my concern is simply protecting money we've put away for our daughter still being used for that when she's at uni.

soulsaver

For the avoidance of doubt: You can have a joint account with you gf - you don't have to be married. For certain, I & my GF have with both Lloyds and Halifax.

But I'm not totally sure what the legal position regarding the apportionment of assets within that ac are upon a death; ie are all the funds the automatically the survivors? Or is half (say) deemed to be the estate of the deceased?

You'd have to be both alive at the time one marries 'away' for it to be the problem you're trying to legislate for; so the joint arrangement could be fine in the interim anyway?

premierfella

IANAL but as I understand it on death the money would pass on to the other person named on the joint account automatically as the OP wishes. The only complication is can see there is if all the money in the account was put in by the joint account holder that died, as I believe the money in the account could then be reasonably argued to be part of the deceased's estate, and a claim could be lodged against the surviving joint account holder I believe by the executors of the estate?

I would see the marriage issue as more problematic - the authorities would almost certainly assume that half the money in the account belonged to each account holder. If that is a genuine concern perhaps an alternative would be a joint account in the OP and daughter's names only on "both to sign" access - although not all banks/building societies will open accounts on that basis these days.

calypso_rhapsody

Yes you can have a joint account with your GF.

What happens on your death is potentially complex .. i am not a lawyer and can't advise but i do know that you should make sure you both have wills - then you can ensure that your assets go where you want them to go on your death. A friend of ours had a daughter with his GF who sadly died of cancer, intestate - it was a right mess as the family home was in the deceased mother's name ... don't know all hte details but if you've enough money to be saving for your daughter's future i'd recommend spending a little of it on some proper advice about wills!

kidmugsy

It might be worth googling the expression "bare trust" which may be what you want.

GingerFurball_2

kidmugsy wrote: »

It might be worth googling the expression "bare trust" which may be what you want.

Useful, but not what I want - the whole point of this savings pot is that while the money is for our daughter, we'll both remain in charge of it and dispense it as and when we see fit.

kidmugsy

OK, why don't you find out whether it's possible to open an account with four names on it: both of you plus one grandparent from each side of the family? That might give you a feeling of security.