bank account for godson

con1888

How do I go about opening a seperate bank account for my godson to put money into (via direct debit) monthly that he can access at 21 years of age.

He is my brothers baby.

SqueekyMouse

Simple answer - I don't think you can!

You can open up a bank account for him in his name - you'll need a copy of his birth certificate for this, but there'd be no way of preventing his access to the money once he was an adult, so you couldn't delay it to 21.

Your best bet would be to open up a savings account in your own name and give him the money on his 21st.

ETA: That's a lovely thoughtful gift for him, I'm sure he will appreciate it when he's older

PurpleFairy26

The best thing to do is open a bond type account, not sure of the exact name but lots of 'friendly' societies do them. You pay in a set amount each month and earn yearly bonus. Some do initial cash back through £co too. If you open an account in your name any interest may be subject to tax, which other child accounts aren't.

If you open an account in your name you will need to put its destination in your will otherwise it will just become part of your estate if something happened to you.

HTH

Jonno

SqueekyMouse

A Bond would be a good idea, but only if you're sure you'd be financially able to contiue paying whatever amount you decide a month. They aren't particularly flexible as you must invest regularly for the term of the bond eg 10 years and you would be penalised if you didn't last the course. Charges can also be high.

Presumably you'd also need to consider re-investing the money when the term of the bond finishes

Also I don't know if you'd be allowed to set one up, not being the child's parent or grandparent

Take a look at this for example

con1888

I was only going to put £10 a month in, not loads but would leave him with around 2k by the time he is 21.

May just open one in my own name but I am not very good with money in my own name and would be afraid I would be tempted to use it. Could ask my brother to open one for me on my godsons behalf I guess ?

Mojisola

con1888 wrote: »

I was only going to put £10 a month in, not loads but would leave him with around 2k by the time he is 21.

You won't be able to stop him having the money at 18. What's he going to like at 18 - very sensible and able to see how useful the money will be when he goes to uni, starts a job, takes driving lessons, etc or will he invite everyone he knows to an amazing party and blow it all over a weekend?

peachyprice

My children all have one of these accounts
http://www.harpendenbs.co.uk/savings-childrens.asp

You can pay money in whenever and however much you like but it cannot be withdrawn until they reach 18, then at 18 it can be converted to an account where only 3 withdrawals can be made a year until they are 21.

I don't think there are any savings accounts with no withdrawals until 21 unless you go for a bond

con1888

Mojisola wrote: »

You won't be able to stop him having the money at 18. What's he going to like at 18 - very sensible and able to see how useful the money will be when he goes to uni, starts a job, takes driving lessons, etc or will he invite everyone he knows to an amazing party and blow it all over a weekend?

How the money is spent is not an issue, I originally chose 21 as I think it would be better at that age but if it has to be 18 then that will be fine. If he spends is on a party and blows is in a weekend then that's fine, I would have done the same had someone been so kind to set up a fund for me :rotfl: