Grandparent opening bank account

loopyloouk

hi all,

my daughters nan has asked for my daughters birth certificate to open a bank account.

My LO is 4 she currently has a bank ac with halifax, my MIL recently inherited £120, 000 and wishes to give each grandchild a portion (I am unsure of the amount as I don't feel comfortable asking) can anyone let me know can she open an account or does she just need the BC to top up the existing account.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful but as my MIL is in her 80's if anything happens will any money be taken off my daughter?

thank you for the help, I just want to make sure its all ok.

loopy

neneromanova

Can you not just give her the current account details that your child has and she puts the money in there?

Crabapple

She'd need the birth certificate for the child as ID if she opens an account for them (and her ID as the adult on the account). If she was prepared to add funds to the existing account then she doesn't need anything apart from those account details so the money can be credited.

If she opens an account and keeps the money in there, then it's unlikely that your daughter would lose any of that money in the future. It would only be the case if the grandmother's estate was over the Inheritance Tax threshold, and the tax due was more than any free money (ie. that not already given away) in the estate.

Potentially there could be an issue if she had to be assessed to pay care fees, but again they would look to the free cash before any money given away. I would expect the grandmother is making sure she keeps enough money for her own needs.

stebiz

Father in Law did it for my 3. Never questioned it.

Newly_retired

Maybe she has found an account where a higher rate of interest is paid?

Gigervamp

Have the rules changed now then? My dad opened savings accounts for each of my kids and he never needed a birth certificate to do it.

apesxx

My mum has her own accounts for both my children, even tho I have accounts for them too. all she needed was the birth certificate to open them.

maman

There are rules to do with inheritance tax as another poster said but grandma is also allowed to give money to her grandchildren (I think it's up to £2 500). It would all depend on the overall size of the grandma's estate in the future and her tax situation now.


I think the rules on opening bank accounts have been tightened because of money laundering/tax evasion.

FBaby

Opened bank accounts with my children a couple of years ago and I had to show their passports.

Nicki

As others have said, she needs the birth certificate due to money laundering regs.

She may want a separate account so she can control when it is accessed. Some parents take the view for example that if they run into mortgage arrears the money in the kids saving accounts can be used as it is in the child's interests to have a roof over their head. Some grandparents take the view that the parents should have their own rainy day find for such situations and the money they have put in their grandchildren a accounts are for the deposit on their own first property or tuition fees or something which benefits only them. If it's grandma's gift to her grandchildren she gets to choose IMO which kind of account it goes into.

choccybuttons

Both my mum and mil have accounts in their names as trustee with our children. Both families have always done this. When dh grandmother died the accounts were handed over to the kids, no money lost as it's the children's money.