MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Darth take money from his kids accounts?

kingkano

If he is really is that badly in debt and goes bankrupt.... cant they take the kids money anyways saying he contributed to it as some kinda debt avoidance??

olly300

Children over 7 and over are allowed to sign for their own building society/bank accounts. I remember signing to take money out of my building society account when I was about 9/10.

If Darth is badly in debt he should leave the kids money alone as it won't help.

tomtombeanie

Darth should absolutely use the money if he needs it right now, but should keep track of how much he took out of each account and put it back in as soon as he can.

Both of our children have savings accounts. Their money has come from friends, relatives and ourselves. When we needed a bit extra to pay for double glazing last year, we dipped into their accounts - but we have not TAKEN it, we have borrowed it. We will be putting back in the interest that their money would have earned on the bank account as well, so we are all winners - a cheap loan for mum and dad, kids haven't lost out and we, as a family, are nice and warm now thanks to new windows.

susy_2

If you want to borrow it as a TEMPORARY stop gap then fine, but whatever you do, DON'T tell the children.

I used a very small amount of cash given to me for my daughter to solve a very quick cashflow problem. However, I mentioned it to my daughter (who was not much older than the twins at the time) and I never had any intention of defrauding her. It was very quickly replaced and spent on something my daughter wanted, but now.......some 10 or more years later, she still reminds me that I owe her this money as she has no recollection of it being returned. LOL :rotfl:

adidas

Take the money but only that which you've paid in. If other relatives have given the children money then you're in effect stealing their money! And obviously it would be good to pay it back soon. I think if the guy was in so much trouble he could try discussing it with the childrens relatives and asking them if he could 'borrow' the money as it were until he is more financially stable.

siber

I think that Darth should treat his children like adults. If he sits them down to ask a favour, explains the situation and asks that they lend him their money, then their response will answer the question. If he adds that he'll give them a reward later and pay the money back and more (obviously to compensate for loss of interest) then the kids will benefit, they'll learn about the way the world works, and Darth'll get a cheap short term loan - assuming their account pays less interest than a bank charges for a loan. Everybody wins.

However, if Darth probably cannot repay the money, he should think long and hard before doing this, if only because it's not a bank with billions of pounds of assets. It's his kids, and all they've got.

If the kids don't want to go for it, so be it.

amyjdavidson

That's a difficult one. When I was a kid my dad left my mum after racking up thousands of pounds worth of debt which she had to clear. It was the same situation, she had no money and my sisters and I had savings accounts. In principal she did the right thing borrowing the money, but she was never able to return the money. A few years later she badly damaged her back and was unable to work again and had to live on benefits. It's not the same situation but if things are bad for Garth now, will they get better?

As the person who's savings were lost, I'm glad mum managed to keep a roof over our heads and keep us clothed and fed, but I do sometimes wish I'd had that money to fall back on - especially when times were hard at uni. I'm now paying off store and credit cards (I made the HUGE mistake of withdrawing cash for rent from store cards) and I sometimes wonder if I'd have had to do that if there had been some money there for me.

I would do what needed to be done but ensure I wasn't fooling myself about returning the money.

cotsvale

No No No. My kids savings could wipe out my overdraft but I wouldn't dream of touching their savings, it's taken me years to put that money aside I'd feel like a failure if I took it. I am managing my debt but I wouldn't manage to save that money up again.

Ksandra

My ten year old, on overhearing that we were a little short on money, instantly offered us money from his savings! Although he is very quick to reminds us that we owe him money if we do take any.

I see no reason why not if it is a short term fix and Darth would be able to pay it back fairly quickly, but if it won't touch the sides of his debt then NO. I think he just needs MSE!

Elainer

Yes borrow the money! Its no good the kids having savings if Darth can't afford to go food shopping.