Children's Bank Account / Savings - Opening for niece/nephews

darren72

I am looking to open a savings accounts for my niece and nephews and have a few questions.

1. Is it possible for me to open the accounts for them (with me not being their parent) ? - They are ages 12, 11 and 3.

2. Will the account be in the sole name of the child or will it need an adult to be a named account holder ?

3. Can anyone recommend an account to pay in money as/when - such as birthday and Christmas money ?

Thanks in advance

NoodleDoodleMan

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/801642/martin-lewis-best-childrens-savings-account

The only problem with the Halifax is accounts have to be opened in branch if the kids don't live with you - they are few and far between this side of Hadrian's Wall.

Do you want your niece/nephews to have direct access to the funds, or do you want to be in control ?

Westie983

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/801642/martin-lewis-best-childrens-savings-account

The only problem with the Halifax is accounts have to be opened in branch if the kids don't live with you - they are few and far between this side of Hadrian's Wall.

Do you want your neice/nephews to have direct access to the funds, or do you want to be in control ?

you dont need the children with you though, just ID for child and for controlling adult if not an existing Halifax customer.

Westie983

xylophone

Do they have CTF/JISA? If so, you could contribute.

darren72

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

Do you want your neice/nephews to have direct access to the funds, or do you want to be in control ?

Thanks. I think knowing my niece and nephew they are probably best not having direct access - but I suppose just holding back the debit card (if there is one) from them would suffice for this.

darren72

xylophone wrote: »

Do they have CTF/JISA? If so, you could contribute.

Thanks. Yes, two of them have a CTF - although very poor indeed. I'm not sure if this can be converted into a JISA ? - If so we could do that and then make the deposits into the JISA.

xylophone

Thanks. Yes, two of them have a CTF - although very poor indeed. I'm not sure if this can be converted into a JISA ?

Yes - Coventry might suit.

https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/consumer/product/savings/children/junior-cash-isa.html

Flobberchops

If you want to be the account holder (rather than the funds being accessible by the children) aren't the parent or guardian, and the children don't live with you, and want to be able to make ad hoc contributions rather than having an ongoing monthly pay-in or platform fees, the Barclays Children's Instant Saver (1.51% AER) may suffice. You'd need to borrow either a passport or birth certificate for each child to open the account (plus your own ID if you're not a Barclays customer) but the child woudln't need to be present or for that matter even know that the account is open, for example if the money is intended to be a surprise at age 18.

Halifax do a very similar account at 2% but I'm not sure offhand what their account opening criteria are.

You can get better interest elsewhere but this would usually be accompanied by constraints about accessing the money, requiring you to share an address, guardianship etc. If you don't much care about being the controlling adult then the best option would be to contribute to a JISA held by the parents.

darren72

Flobberchops wrote: »

If you want to be the account holder (rather than the funds being accessible by the children) aren't the parent or guardian, and the children don't live with you, and want to be able to make ad hoc contributions rather than having an ongoing monthly pay-in or platform fees, the Barclays Children's Instant Saver (1.51% AER) may suffice. You'd need to borrow either a passport or birth certificate for each child to open the account (plus your own ID if you're not a Barclays customer) but the child woudln't need to be present or for that matter even know that the account is open, for example if the money is intended to be a surprise at age 18.

Thanks for the replies.

In terms of my own tax circumstances, would opening these accounts affect me? - Would I need to declare these accounts or interest paid on them, or as they are in the child's name I would be OK ?

Thanks

NoodleDoodleMan

The Santander Mini 123 pays 3% interest on balances between £300 and £2000 - but a child over 10 years of age would have control.

I'm not sure if you could come to an agreement to control the account until they reach 16 or 18.

http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/123-mini-accounts?gclid=Cj0KCQjwyvXPBRD-ARIsAIeQeoGQgCgNg5ShisBwGg5Zzev-FnS_cVfezFyUexZrOJJ2R3gVJ1etXXsaAkCyEALw_wcB

Unlike the Halifax and Barclay's accounts it can be managed online.

As it would be in the child's name they would be liable for tax, not you - however they won't be earning enough to reach taxable income level anyway.

^!£$&

Consider the Coventry BS Junior Isa I opened it for my son and he can't access it until he is 18. I have been very happy with the customer service and add bday/Xmas money to his account via online banking with my bank.