Help - Giving Daughter my Estate But Not all At Once

TK2007

Please can someone advise as this might be a silly question.
My family is quite elderly and I want to leave my daughter (who is currently 9 years old) my estate.
However I want to give her my estate at certain stages of her life.
For example 20% at 18, 20% at 21, 20% at 25 etc etc.
Therefore she doesn't blow all the cash at once.
As my family is elderly I want a third party to handle this, maybe a solicitor etc?
Is this even possible ? What if the solicitor closes etc ?
Any advice appreciated.

Malthusian

*woop woop Saunders v Vautier klaxon*

What you want to do is in a legal sense not possible, as you cannot legally deny a competent adult the use of their own money. If you wrote a Will along the lines of "I give 20% to my daughter to be held on trust until she is 18, 20% when she is 21, 20% when she is 25" etc etc, she would be able to force the trustees to hand over the whole lot at 18.

Some solicitors will suggest you write your Will that way anyway in the hope she doesn't realise this until later in life, but that doesn't change the law. Relying on the legal ignorance of young adults in this way is considered non-U in the extreme on this forum.

As with anyone looking to write a Will, you should take professional advice from a registered solicitor.

The only reliable way to stop an 18-year-old blowing a sudden windfall is to make sure they are already experienced in making financial decisions much earlier than that.

Brynsam

A properly established discretionary trust will do the job nicely, albeit not simply/cheaply! You need professional advice, of course - make sure you use a solicitor who is a STEP member.

Robin9

How big is the Estate ?

More importantly at this time - as your daughter is only 9 who will be her guardians ?

TK2007

Her Mother will be her guardian so that area is covered 👍

Robin9

TK2007 wrote: »

Her Mother will be her guardian so that area is covered 👍

What if ........................ the worse has happened and her mother has died first ?

See a solicitor who will go through the scenarios with you.

Savvy_Sue

Robin9 wrote: »

What if ........................ the worse has happened and her mother has died first ?

See a solicitor who will go through the scenarios with you.

Including whether her mother will have any claim on your estate especially if she is your DD's guardian.

TK2007

My understanding is that because I had a clean break as part of the divorce my ex won’t have any claim on my estate.
My daughter and ex will not know how much money is in my estate so if anything happens to me then they can’t really claim can they?

Kynthia

Is none of your estate going to help your daughter with costs before she is 18? Without your child support your daughter may be worse off until she inherits at 18.

Robin9

TK2007 wrote: »

My daughter and ex will not know how much money is in my estate so if anything happens to me then they can’t really claim can they?

O yes they will - after probate your will is public knowledge.

Mojisola

TK2007 wrote: »

Her Mother will be her guardian so that area is covered 👍

Kynthia wrote: »

Is none of your estate going to help your daughter with costs before she is 18? Without your child support your daughter may be worse off until she inherits at 18.

Her mother could go to court to get money released from the estate at least to the value of the child support you are paying and probably more.