Children’s inheritance 28 December 2020 at 9:54AM in ISAs & Tax-free Savings 8 replies 124 views

babuseat

2 of my children have inherited 10k each . The ask in the will is that they don’t get it till they are 18 which is perfectly fine. I was tempted to put it in a junior ISA but my concern is that we would want to Make sure the money is used wisely ie property . Has anyone got any advice or experience what would be the best way to save their money?

JGB1955

How old are they?

Tigsteroonie

I appreciate what you are trying to do but if the will only says "not till age 18" and has no further stipulations then you have no rights to add further conditions - it could lead to resentment. it's not your money, it's theirs.

babuseat

JGB1955 said:

How old are they? One is 8 and one is 11 .. 

babuseat

Tigsteroonie said:

I appreciate what you are trying to do but if the will only says "not till age 18" and has no further stipulations then you have no rights to add further conditions - it could lead to resentment. it's not your money, it's theirs.

No I understand completely what your saying I just want to make sure they use it wisely! I just want the very best for them 

theoretica

babuseat said:

Tigsteroonie said:

I appreciate what you are trying to do but if the will only says "not till age 18" and has no further stipulations then you have no rights to add further conditions - it could lead to resentment. it's not your money, it's theirs.

No I understand completely what your saying I just want to make sure they use it wisely! I just want the very best for them 

You can't control the money after 18 if they won't let you - but you have many years to teach them money management.

Grumpy_chap

babuseat said:

The ask in the will is that they don’t get it till they are 18
my concern is that we would want to Make sure the money is used wisely ie property .

All you can do is ensure that the money is secure and passed over to the children at the age of 18 (different dates assuming they are not twins).

As for using the money wisely, that is a very many varied interpretation and all you can do in that regard is to train your children from a very young age to understand the value of money and the benefits of concepts such as saving versus spending.  It is entirely up to your children what they chose to do with the money, though if you have taught them the value of money well, they will do something "wise" with the money, which may not be property.

You do not say what age your children are, nor where in the country you are.  Although £10k is a very nice sum (especially at age 18) it is not, for most people, a life-changing amount and nor will it make a massive impact to the costs of jumping on the housing ladder.  Particularly as you are referring to the £10 against a future (presumably higher) property market than today's prices.

It is careful to be cautious about the encouragement to "use the money wisely" as this can become overly restrictive.  I say this from experience.  My FiL gave us a sum of money which he wanted us to use wisely.  It was a very welcome sum, but not life-changing.  The trouble was identifying what was "using the money wisely" became very difficult and so restrictive as everytime we made or tried to make any purchase of a noticeable value, including new car, holiday, even double glazing, FiL would comment that was not what the money was for.  In fact both the car and the double glazing we put on hold because of the level of resistance.  Our solution was to give him the money back and then we went out and bought the new car, double glazing, and study furniture all in one hit (felt like we'd won the lottery) but the proof was there this was our money and not the gift from FiL which was reserved for "something wise".

The hardest part of the gift from FiL was that the whole gift was initiated because BiL had received a tax bill because he had not been declaring income correctly so the gift to BiL was to settle the tax bill (urgent) yet, by default, the BiL had effectively frittered away the money as monthly income ahead of the tax man catching up with him.

babuseat

Grumpy_chap said:

babuseat said:

The ask in the will is that they don’t get it till they are 18
my concern is that we would want to Make sure the money is used wisely ie property .

All you can do is ensure that the money is secure and passed over to the children at the age of 18 (different dates assuming they are not twins).

As for using the money wisely, that is a very many varied interpretation and all you can do in that regard is to train your children from a very young age to understand the value of money and the benefits of concepts such as saving versus spending.  It is entirely up to your children what they chose to do with the money, though if you have taught them the value of money well, they will do something "wise" with the money, which may not be property.

You do not say what age your children are, nor where in the country you are.  Although £10k is a very nice sum (especially at age 18) it is not, for most people, a life-changing amount and nor will it make a massive impact to the costs of jumping on the housing ladder.  Particularly as you are referring to the £10 against a future (presumably higher) property market than today's prices.

It is careful to be cautious about the encouragement to "use the money wisely" as this can become overly restrictive.  I say this from experience.  My FiL gave us a sum of money which he wanted us to use wisely.  It was a very welcome sum, but not life-changing.  The trouble was identifying what was "using the money wisely" became very difficult and so restrictive as everytime we made or tried to make any purchase of a noticeable value, including new car, holiday, even double glazing, FiL would comment that was not what the money was for.  In fact both the car and the double glazing we put on hold because of the level of resistance.  Our solution was to give him the money back and then we went out and bought the new car, double glazing, and study furniture all in one hit (felt like we'd won the lottery) but the proof was there this was our money and not the gift from FiL which was reserved for "something wise".

The hardest part of the gift from FiL was that the whole gift was initiated because BiL had received a tax bill because he had not been declaring income correctly so the gift to BiL was to settle the tax bill (urgent) yet, by default, the BiL had effectively frittered away the money as monthly income ahead of the tax man catching up with him.

I really appreciate the time and advise !!! You have actually made me sit back and reevaluate the meaning of wisely!!  Many thanks 

Albermarle

Also at 18 , life is exciting and it would not be really normal for an 18 year old to have money, and not spend it on fun things rather than save it all.
At that age a car is usually high on the priority list + driving lessons + a large insurance bill. That 's most of the £10K gone already !