Bequest for My Children but they can't have it until they are 21.

loobylou2

Hi, I hope someone can help with this as I really need some advice. My grandmother passed away last September and she left each of my 3 children £1500. Her will though states that they cannot have the money until they are 21 years of age. They are currently aged 16,14 and 8. My father who was the executor for her has now given me the money and I have to find suitable accounts for them. Does anybody have any idea where I can place this money given the ages of my children and the fact that I want to respect my grandmothers wishes and make sure that they don't get the cash until they are 21. Any help or advice re this would be greatly appreciated.

rachiibell

I would just find the best account for their age, put the money in and don't tell them about it. You've set it up and you can keep the card, pay in book, ect and then give it to them on their 21st birthday. My grandparents and parents did this for me

NAR

Put it in a cash ISA. If any generous relatives give them money for birthdays or Christmas this could be used to top up.

theoretica

ISAs automatically change to the child at 18 so the bank might start writing to them, and mess up the not telling them. Have you asked your bank what they can offer for the circumstances?

getmore4less

There is nowhere for this amount of money that earns enough to make it worth while, inflation will kill the value.

What are the specific terms of the will any discretionary terms at all?

A minor risk(they can sue you) just use the money say pay off a bit of your mortgage and then give them a decent(say what the £1500 bought of your property or inflation index linked or ...) amount at the time they hit 21, just make sure you have the cash them.

rachiibell

theoretica wrote: »

ISAs automatically change to the child at 18 so the bank might start writing to them, and mess up the not telling them. Have you asked your bank what they can offer for the circumstances?

Either intercept the mail that has the bank logo or tell them straight up that Grandma has left them some money to receive at 21 and you've put it in a bank account to earn interest for now. I certainly wouldn't complain if my parents told me that!

bouncydog1

We invested DD's inheritance in a Mr and Mrs re: Miss account. At 18 we told her as bank wanted to change the account so it was invested in an account where any two of three need to sign to get it out. as it's for a house she is very happy with this and it also means we can top it up if we want to. Would never recommend using a child's inheritance for own needs as there is no guarantee individual will have the money later if circumstances change.

specialboy

I would have thought that it would have been up to the executor to ensure the cash was safe until they reached 21.

getmore4less

specialboy wrote: »

I would have thought that it would have been up to the executor to ensure the cash was safe until they reached 21.

Fairly common practice to hand the job over to parents.

That way you can close the estate account and minimize your own involvement going forward, for professional execs the fees would just eat such small bequest so in the interest of the beneficiary to hand over to the parents that can't charge.