Inheritance to my children from their great nan

scaledtrout

My nan passed last year and has left some money for all of her great grandchildren And we are looking at open some sort of account preferably one that they can’t access till a later date. We aren’t in a financial position atm to open anything that requires a minimum payment per month (if there is such a thing) and I also don’t know how much money was left behind as it’s not something I want know tbh although we are extremely grateful that some was left (I thought it was rude to ask how much) I think I have added enough but I will answer any question as soon as I can to help me choose the right thing. Thanks in advance for any help given 

Graeme 

dunroving

scaledtrout said:

My nan passed last year and has left some money for all of her great grandchildren And we are looking at open some sort of account preferably one that they can’t access till a later date. We aren’t in a financial position atm to open anything that requires a minimum payment per month (if there is such a thing) and I also don’t know how much money was left behind as it’s not something I want know tbh although we are extremely grateful that some was left (I thought it was rude to ask how much) I think I have added enough but I will answer any question as soon as I can to help me choose the right thing. Thanks in advance for any help given 

Graeme 

You could open a Junior ISA. Depending on how young they are, there is potentially lots of time for a low-cost broad-brush fund (e.g., a global tracker/index fund) to grow before they are old enough to access it.

xylophone

has left some money for all of her great grandchildren And we are looking at open some sort of account preferably one that they can’t access till a later date. We aren’t in a financial position atm to open anything that requires a minimum payment per month (if there is such a thing) and I also don’t know how much money was left behind as it’s not something I want know tbh although we are extremely grateful that some was left (I thought it was rude to ask how much) 

If you are to be the Trustees for your minor children, how is it possible for you not to know how much money is involved?

First of all, you need to know the exact terms of the bequests.

What precisely does the will say?

scaledtrout

xylophone said:

has left some money for all of her great grandchildren And we are looking at open some sort of account preferably one that they can’t access till a later date. We aren’t in a financial position atm to open anything that requires a minimum payment per month (if there is such a thing) and I also don’t know how much money was left behind as it’s not something I want know tbh although we are extremely grateful that some was left (I thought it was rude to ask how much) 

If you are to be the Trustees for your minor children, how is it possible for you not to know how much money is involved?

First of all, you need to know the exact terms of the bequests.

What precisely does the will say?

I have nothing to do with the will that is something my mum and her sister are sorting out. I didn’t ask how much it was because tbh I don’t think I need to think about it it wasn’t left to me it was left to my small children I do now know how much it’s just over a thousand pound each for the 4 children that I have. I got a phone call yesterday from my mum asking me if the kids have a bank account open because of the money being left for them and tbh was just looking for a bit of advice as to what to open and what to avoid I don’t want anything that’s gonna risk any money(like a share save scheme etc) apologies for the lack of information this is all new to me and I just don’t want to do something wrong with it and want the best outcome for the kids for when they are at a sensible age. Potentially giving them a better start to adult hood than what I have experienced ( although mine wasn’t A particular bad start but it could of course of always been better)

scaledtrout

dunroving said:

scaledtrout said:

My nan passed last year and has left some money for all of her great grandchildren And we are looking at open some sort of account preferably one that they can’t access till a later date. We aren’t in a financial position atm to open anything that requires a minimum payment per month (if there is such a thing) and I also don’t know how much money was left behind as it’s not something I want know tbh although we are extremely grateful that some was left (I thought it was rude to ask how much) I think I have added enough but I will answer any question as soon as I can to help me choose the right thing. Thanks in advance for any help given 

Graeme 

You could open a Junior ISA. Depending on how young they are, there is potentially lots of time for a low-cost broad-brush fund (e.g., a global tracker/index fund) to grow before they are old enough to access it.

Kids are aged 2 4 10 and 10 

xylophone

You could open a JISA for the two and four year olds and deposit their bequests.
 Each of the ten year olds has a CTF?
https://www.nsandi.com/junior-isa-landing-page#:~:text=If%20your%20child%20has%20a,security%20for%20your%20child's%20money.
 You could transfer the CTFs into JISA and add their bequests.
NS & I is currently paying 3.25% on the JISA.
https://www.nsandi.com/junior-isa

dunroving

scaledtrout said:

xylophone said:

has left some money for all of her great grandchildren And we are looking at open some sort of account preferably one that they can’t access till a later date. We aren’t in a financial position atm to open anything that requires a minimum payment per month (if there is such a thing) and I also don’t know how much money was left behind as it’s not something I want know tbh although we are extremely grateful that some was left (I thought it was rude to ask how much) 

If you are to be the Trustees for your minor children, how is it possible for you not to know how much money is involved?

First of all, you need to know the exact terms of the bequests.

What precisely does the will say?

I have nothing to do with the will that is something my mum and her sister are sorting out. I didn’t ask how much it was because tbh I don’t think I need to think about it it wasn’t left to me it was left to my small children I do now know how much it’s just over a thousand pound each for the 4 children that I have. I got a phone call yesterday from my mum asking me if the kids have a bank account open because of the money being left for them and tbh was just looking for a bit of advice as to what to open and what to avoid I don’t want anything that’s gonna risk any money(like a share save scheme etc) apologies for the lack of information this is all new to me and I just don’t want to do something wrong with it and want the best outcome for the kids for when they are at a sensible age. Potentially giving them a better start to adult hood than what I have experienced ( although mine wasn’t A particular bad start but it could of course of always been better)

Hi, it seems you have two things to sort out: (a) where to put the money while deciding what to do with it, and (b) what to do with it (where to put it long time).

Many people are scared of "the stock market", and so would put the children's money in a cash account. The problem is, inflation will almost completely erode any interest. So, essentially, they'd get the equivalent of £1,000 in today's money (i.e., the amount they inherited).

You obviously have to choose something that you are comfortable with, on their behalf. However, they have time on their side (8 years for the 10-year-olds, 16 years for the 2-year-old). Over that time period, the stock market has always risen historically. Barring global catastrophes (in which case, even cash may not be safe), an investment in the stock market would beat any of the poor savings accounts that currently exist.

Personally, I'd put it in a low-cost global tracker fund - though don't take this as advice (you need to do your own research on this, and hopefully get the opinions of others from here). To get an idea, though, one well-known global tracker fund has doubled in value over the past 6 years, and has tripled over the past 10 years. Putting the money in a savings account with 2% interest would lead to growth of only 13% over 6 years and to growth of only 22% in 10 years.

Regardless, if you decide to put their money in a "stocks and shares" JISA, you could open the account and park the money in cash until you decide what fund to put the money in. 

steampowered

Sorry to hear about your loss. But it is a very nice legacy that your kids will get to start their adult life with a little head start!

I would suggest opening a Junior ISA. There are lots of companies which offer these. I would suggest Hargreaves Lansdown which is a big and very reputable provider: https://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/junior-isa. The minimum amount to open an account is only £100.

Once you've put the money into the Junior ISA, you will need to choose what investments the Junior ISA will hold. There are lots of different options, but there is really no need to make it too complicated. I would suggest something like "Fidelity Index World", which is essentially an investment fund which tracks the global stock markets - so your kids would get the average return the global stock markets make. Some years can be positive and some years can be negative, but on average you might get a return of about 6-7% per year.

You also have the option of opening a Junior ISA with National Savings & Investments, which is backed by HM Treasury and pays a fixed 3.25% per year interest rate (https://www.nsandi.com/junior-isa). This is suitable if your kids have less than 5 years to go before they reach 18. If they are younger than 13, I would go with the stock market investment as that is likely to generate better returns.

Mojisola

scaledtrout said:

xylophone said:

If you are to be the Trustees for your minor children, how is it possible for you not to know how much money is involved?

First of all, you need to know the exact terms of the bequests.

What precisely does the will say?

I have nothing to do with the will that is something my mum and her sister are sorting out. I didn’t ask how much it was because tbh I don’t think I need to think about it it wasn’t left to me it was left to my small children I do now know how much it’s just over a thousand pound each for the 4 children that I have.

Once the will has been proved, it's a public document and anyone can buy a copy.

If you don't want to ask the executors for a copy, buy one yourself so that you know exactly what it says.

dunroving

Mojisola said:

scaledtrout said:

xylophone said:

If you are to be the Trustees for your minor children, how is it possible for you not to know how much money is involved?

First of all, you need to know the exact terms of the bequests.

What precisely does the will say?

I have nothing to do with the will that is something my mum and her sister are sorting out. I didn’t ask how much it was because tbh I don’t think I need to think about it it wasn’t left to me it was left to my small children I do now know how much it’s just over a thousand pound each for the 4 children that I have.

Once the will has been proved, it's a public document and anyone can buy a copy.

If you don't want to ask the executors for a copy, buy one yourself so that you know exactly what it says.

Which is something any beneficiary (or even potential beneficiary) might consider doing. I recently discovered an aunt left me £3,000 in 1996. I never received it, and the executor (her son) has since died.

Newly_retired

Accounts in the children’s names will need your consent as their parent. I was only able to open a JISA for my grandchildren by getting written consent from their parents, so it is best that you are Trustee rather than your mum or aunt.