How do I set up trust fund/account for under 18’s

Albermarle

For the excess money over £9000, it can go into a normal children savings account (accessible at 16) and then £9K can be transferred to the JISA each year.
Top children's savings accounts: 5% interest - MoneySavingExpert

Malthusian

Who are the trustees going to be? For the children who are currently minors, it's the trustees' job to open suitable accounts and/or funds, not the executor's.
Not much point researching accounts and funds if the trustees (e.g. their parents) have a different opinion.   

dunstonh said:

That is going to be fun job registering all 8 of those trusts with HMRC.   However, it will largely be a copy and paste exercise.   You will also need to make sure the trustees carry out their duties in the future.

It's rare I disagree with dunstonh, but AIUI the executor's job is over once the executor has transferred the money to the duly appointed trustees and the estate has been settled. They don't need to monitor the trustees afterwards. If the trustees don't carry out their duties that's between them and the beneficiary. The only way the executor could be held responsible is if it was reasonably obvious at the time that the trustees were not fit to be trusted with the money.

xylophone

The eldest is 22 and the youngest 13.

I don’t have the will in front of me but basically the estate to be shared amongst the grandchildren and held in a trust until they reach 18

 It seems to me (no expert) that you must have regard to the exact terms of the will before doing anything.

Does the money indefeasibly vest in  each grandchild? That is to say, each grandchild is absolutely entitled to his share of the estate when (not if) if he reaches the age of 18? 

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trusts-settlements-and-estates-manual/tsem1563 

Is there anything in the terms of the will that prevents the 18 or overs from having their share now?

If not, why not hand over their share to the grandchildren concerned?

With regard to the under 18's, depending on the terms of the will, (ask the solicitor who drafted it), it may be possible to avoid the registration of trust faff by having a responsible adult open a deposit account for each child as bare trustee.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trust-registration-service-manual/trsm23160

Example

https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/products/headstart_account/

You might ask the parents to open a JISA for each under 18 and you could then pay in the maximum.

The balance could be held in (say) Virgin accounts for each child and then credited to JISA in subsequent tax years.

If the will stipulates that no child may benefit until the youngest turns 18, then I imagine you would need to open a savings account in the name of the John Smith Grandchildren's Will Trust (having found a Bank/BS that will open accounts in the name of Trustees), register the Trust and take the necessary action with regard to taxation.

https://www.gov.uk/trusts-taxes

If all the grandchildren are absolutely and beneficially entitled to their share, then presumably this would be a bare trust?

mh93

Thanks everyone for your advice, I’ve spoken briefly to a solicitor today and they charge 2% plus vat to sort the process out (roughly £6k) I know it’s a lot of money but I’m tempted to let them deal with it.

dunstonh

It's rare I disagree with dunstonh, but AIUI the executor's job is over once the executor has transferred the money to the duly appointed trustees and the estate has been settled. They don't need to monitor the trustees afterwards. If the trustees don't carry out their duties that's between them and the beneficiary. The only way the executor could be held responsible is if it was reasonably obvious at the time that the trustees were not fit to be trusted with the money.

It was bad wording on my front.  I wasn't suggesting the trustee has a duty to do that.  Just the case that operating trusts requires more work than it used to and the average person acting as a trustee on a small pot may not realise that.

wmb194

mh93 said:

Thanks everyone for your advice, I’ve spoken briefly to a solicitor today and they charge 2% plus vat to sort the process out (roughly £6k) I know it’s a lot of money but I’m tempted to let them deal with it.

If all that's required are some simple bare trust children's savings accounts and Jisas that would be a total rip-off.

EssexHebridean

mh93 said:

Thanks everyone for your advice, I’ve spoken briefly to a solicitor today and they charge 2% plus vat to sort the process out (roughly £6k) I know it’s a lot of money but I’m tempted to let them deal with it.

That could well turn out to be cheap at the price to get everything done properly and to know that things will pan out as your Mum would have wished. As has already been said, the costs come from the estate in any event.

I'll offer two bits of advice - use a local high street Solicitor with good online reviews OR that has been recommended by local friends or relatives, and don't be tempted to go to anyone that sounds as though they would be more at home selling you a pint of milk than dealing with matters of probate and inheritance. From personal experience I'd strongly suggest that if you want groceries, go to a supermarket. If you want legal services, then use a proper firm of solicitors with experience in the field.  

dunstonh

EssexHebridean said:

mh93 said:

Thanks everyone for your advice, I’ve spoken briefly to a solicitor today and they charge 2% plus vat to sort the process out (roughly £6k) I know it’s a lot of money but I’m tempted to let them deal with it.

That could well turn out to be cheap at the price to get everything done properly and to know that things will pan out as your Mum would have wished. As has already been said, the costs come from the estate in any event.

I'll offer two bits of advice - use a local high street Solicitor with good online reviews OR that has been recommended by local friends or relatives, and don't be tempted to go to anyone that sounds as though they would be more at home selling you a pint of milk than dealing with matters of probate and inheritance. From personal experience I'd strongly suggest that if you want groceries, go to a supermarket. If you want legal services, then use a proper firm of solicitors with experience in the field.  

Although also be wary of solicitors that pass it to an unqualified individual not working within the solicitors but passed over to another linked firm.   I had a very bad experience with a client that used a solicitor only to find out way down the process that the person wasn't a solicitor but the husband of the solicitor and that it he had no qualifications and operated under a separate limited company and that the solicitor took a cut of the fee income.       The executor went ape when he found out significant assets were not included in the estate and resulted in him getting paid £9000 less than he thought he was going to get.  He was foolish enough to follow it up making false allegations in writing on the solicitors letterhead and the wife (the real solicitor) had to issue written apologies backtracking on his comments.