Opening a savings account for my 3 grandchildren

Fuerte76

Hi, Im looking advice on how r where to go to open savings accounts for my 3 grandchildren. I assume they have to be opened in each child's name, ages are 7,5 and a baby. We're in Northern Ireland, the kids are in England. Do I have to get permission from my son and his wife to open these accounts and do statements have to be posted to them? I want something that the kids and only the kids have access to when they're 18? Any help appreciated. Thanks

Keep_pedalling

We have done this for our 3 GC. Just after they were born we got our children to open a S&S JISA which we initially funded with a lump sum and top them up on their birthdays. Only a parent or guardian can open the account but others can pay. Once they reach 16 the accounts can be controlled by the children but the money cannot be accessed until they are 18. 

wmb194

Fuerte76 said:

Hi, Im looking advice on how r where to go to open savings accounts for my 3 grandchildren. I assume they have to be opened in each child's name, ages are 7,5 and a baby. We're in Northern Ireland, the kids are in England. Do I have to get permission from my son and his wife to open these accounts and do statements have to be posted to them? I want something that the kids and only the kids have access to when they're 18? Any help appreciated. Thanks

Might be easier to look at Jisas. They’re locked to the child and only accessible at 18.

 You can open accounts for children but you’ll often need their birth certificates. E.g., Barclays’ children’s accounts.

“For your appointment, you'll need one of the following documents belonging to the child you’re opening the account for:

• Birth certificate 
• Passport – even if it’s expired
• NHS medical card
• Hospital appointment letter 
• European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
• Adoption or guardianship papers.”

https://www.barclays.co.uk/savings/instant-access/barclays-childrens-savings/

Another option is to save in your own name and earmark the money to them. This also gives you the flexibility not to give them the money at 18…

xylophone

Ask your son to open a JISA for each child if he has not done so already.

You would then be able to contribute.

https://www.gov.uk/junior-individual-savings-accounts

Albermarle

Due to the young ages of the children, a stocks and shares JISA, would most likely produce a bigger sum at 18 than a savings JISA.
For example ( other providers also offer them)
Junior ISA | Invest in a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA | Fidelity

talexuser

I went down the JISA path with the agreement of the parents. HL is a free platform for a global tracker, which with the years involved might be a profitable route, and I top up now and then.