Use children's savings as part of deposit?

klmwong

Hiya,

My children have their birthday and Christmas money in children's savings accounts and if I used their money with our savings we could get together a decent deposit.

However I do feel a bit uneasy about "stealing" their money. Obviously we would pay them back and as they are only 7 and 8 it;s not as if they need the money just yet. But with savings rates so low, is it reasonable for me to borrow their savings and use it for a deposit as the interest I would be charged is more than the savings rate anyway. I think rationally it;s ok but morally it;s not as clear cut. What would you do?

Just so you know, we have a situation where the council have changed the feeder school system so my young uns don;t automatically get into the school they would previously have gone to. The alternative is a school that is poor in league tables and I have a friend who went there and she says she wouldn;t want her children to attend... Anyway, looks like we have to move house, thanks to the new rules.

anselld

I think you will find most financial institutions take a dim view of you withdrawing their money, no doubt for the same reasons you feal uneasy.

xylophone

You hold the money in trust for your children which is theirs absolutely - they cannot legally agree to a loan and you cannot legally use their money as though it were your own.

tigsly

Personally I dont have an issue - with using money saved for children - to improve the quailty of their life in the here and now...

But i'm not a bank - and am not sure how a bank woudl take it

calicocat

Can you put a percentage of the house the size of the deposit in trust in their names?

lessonlearned

Not sure how you stand legally. However, I can see nothing wrong with the principle behind it.

They will be the beneficiaries - a decent roof over their heads and a good school. You can set up a savings fund to replace what you have "borrowed".

seven-day-weekend

I personally would do it, you are providing them with a roof over their head and a better quality of life.

bossymoo

Me too. I'd go for it, if it is in their interests and you replace the money as soon as possible.

aliasojo

I'd do it and not feel bad about it for one split second tbh.

It's all very well raising the moral issue but morals wont give your kids a good start in life with a good school and a home.

This benefits them too, it's not like you're taking their money to go on holiday to Vegas by yourself.

They are young, there is plenty of time for them to be repaid.

00ec25

practically it depends on the terms and conditions of the child account

morally it is best to use it for a deposit.

However it seems we are taking so much money that it makes a difference to a house deposit and they are already 7 and 8 years old so realistically how long is it going to take you to replace that money

Annisele

I agree with Xylophone - I don't think it is OK legally (but I'm not a laywer). If the money was given as gifts, it belongs to your children and not to you. You can't go raiding other peoples' bank accounts so you can live somewhere else - even if the somewhere else would benefit your children.

Presumably we're talking reasonably significant sums here, or they wouldn't make a difference to your deposit. Was the money gifted by family members? And would it cause a rift if those family members knew you'd used the children's money for your own purposes?