Bequeathing Money To Children

zharrt

My cousin is in the last stages of a fight she cannot win, and would like to leave some money to her nieces/nephews and a few other children in the family, her husband as hawked me what the best way of doing this as he knows I run my own pension etc.

The way I see it the choices are either Premium Bonds or JISA's, but these are mainly geared towards parents or grandparents setting them up, would it there for be better if she leaves the money and instructions to the child's parent and they set something up when the time comes?

Thanks in advance

Malthusian

Junior ISAs can only be opened by a parent or guardian. And she has much better choices than Premium Bonds available.

If she is happy to leave the money to her brothers / sisters and they would be happy to follow her instructions and set aside the money for the children, that would in many ways be the simplest solution. The parents can then use whatever tax wrapper and investments they feel are most appropriate.

If she doesn't trust her brothers / sisters that far the alternative would be some form of formal will trust, and she would need to consider who should be the trustees and the potential tax issues. (Trusts can be subject to very high rates of tax if not managed correctly.) From your post it sounds as if there may be no need for this if she is happy to just leave it to the parents on the children's behalf.

xylophone

If she wishes to leave the money in her will then a solicitor experienced in wills and trusts will advise - the money can be left in bare trust for the children or a discretionary trust can be set up.

However the wording of the will needs care - the solicitor will advise.

http://www.step.org/member-directory

https://www.gov.uk/trusts-taxes/overview

Otherwise, if the children have JISAs (or the parents are prepared to set them up), she may prefer to arrange transfers to these now.