Child Inheritance

Trudi76

My 13 year old daughter is about to receive a substantial amount of inheritance.  I am aware of the government scheme that pays an extra 25% of your deposit (up to £6k per year I believe) to go towards purchasing a property.  However, I need to find an account that she does not have access to without my approval (I have a share ISA that she will receive at 18 without my consent).  I need the account to be able to set up a standing order every year for the help to buy property scheme.  Any ideas? Help please?

eskbanker

The Lifetime ISA (£4K/year plus the 25% bonus per contribution) effectively replaced the Help to Buy ISA but is only available once she's 18.

kuratowski

As it's an inheritance she might have the legal right to access at age 18 (assuming England), irrespective of your wishes, depending on the wording of the will.  What did the will actually say?

A LISA can't be opened until age 18, as already mentioned by eskbanker, moreover it would have to be in your daughter's name and she would be able to withdraw at any time, subject to the government penalty.  So that's no good.

Realistically the only way to restrict her access (assuming you are legally able to per 1st paragraph) is to hold the assets in trust with you as legal owner and her as beneficial owner.  I would suggest consulting a solicitor if you decide to pursue this, to make sure everything is done correctly, given the substantial amount in question.

Keep_pedalling

You cannot impose your own conditions on her inheritance, only the will can do that by setting up a discretionary trust. If she has been left this as an an outright / absolute gift then she is entitled to her inheritance at 18 and you need to hold it in a bare trust for her. Even if the will stipulates an older age she will be entitled to to claim it at 18.

What wording has been used for this particular legacy?

Albermarle

We get a number of similar posts on the forum , where parents wish to withhold access to funds of various sorts from their children when they become adults ( at 18 legally ) . However it is usually not possible .
Better to concentrate on giving the teenager some support and education on dealing with money, and if they trust you then they may prefer that you look after it for them anyway .
Also if an 18 year old wants to 'blow' some of the money on a new car, driving lessons, holidays etc , then why not. You are only young once.

Trudi76

kuratowski said:

As it's an inheritance she might have the legal right to access at age 18 (assuming England), irrespective of your wishes, depending on the wording of the will.  What did the will actually say?

A LISA can't be opened until age 18, as already mentioned by eskbanker, moreover it would have to be in your daughter's name and she would be able to withdraw at any time, subject to the government penalty.  So that's no good.

Realistically the only way to restrict her access (assuming you are legally able to per 1st paragraph) is to hold the assets in trust with you as legal owner and her as beneficial owner.  I would suggest consulting a solicitor if you decide to pursue this, to make sure everything is done correctly, given the substantial amount in question.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.  The will does not stipulate what should be done with the money, however we have discussed this and she would like me to put the majority into the help to buy scheme but keep some by for driving lessons, car etc.

xylophone

What exactly does the will say?

Alexland

Trudi76 said:

Thank you for taking the time to respond.  The will does not stipulate what should be done with the money, however we have discussed this and she would like me to put the majority into the help to buy scheme but keep some by for driving lessons, car etc.

The old Help To Buy ISA was for those ages 16+ and closed to new applications a few years ago. The replacement is the Lifetime ISA for those 18+ so for now there is no option to put the money into a government incentivised property purchase account for the next 4-5 years.

As above we really need to know the exact wording of the will to determine what might be a suitable savings product but it is likely the money will need to be saved in trust with her getting control and access at age 18.