Child trust account holding the deposit for a house

Emmia

itsthelittlethings said:

Why didn’t you just save up to buy a house in your own bank account?

I was going to post this exact question.

Surely it's obvious that an account in the child's name contains money which "belongs" to the child. 

If the OP was saving for a property purchase for themselves then an account in their name, would be the more logical choice.  A bank account in their name would have been as secure as one in their child's name. 

Or was the OP trying to circumvent benefit rules (avoiding their personal savings being over a certain threshold) or avoid the money being taken in a bankruptcy or some other debt related situation 

The OP also references another child account they were able to empty previously in their first post what was the basis of that account?

born_again

Emmia said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Why didn’t you just save up to buy a house in your own bank account?

I was going to post this exact question.

Surely it's obvious that an account in the child's name contains money which "belongs" to the child. 

If the OP was saving for a property purchase for themselves then an account in their name, would be the more logical choice.  A bank account in their name would have been as secure as one in their child's name. 

Or was the OP trying to circumvent benefit rules (avoiding their personal savings being over a certain threshold) or avoid the money being taken in a bankruptcy or some other debt related situation 

The OP also references another child account they were able to empty previously in their first post what was the basis of that account?

There was some UC history back in 2021

Emmia

OP Does this money relate to the funding source outlined in this thread in 2020?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6201681/recurrent-monies-from-parents-towards-granddaughter-savings-tax-implications#latest

Masha_2

itsthelittlethings said:

Why didn’t you just save up to buy a house in your own bank account?

eskbanker said:

Masha_2 said:
Well all the money in trust has come from my income and initially as a single mum I needed to have a secure place as in a trust but I always understood that could be used in many ways and managed by me. nevertheless I decided to use it as savings for our house. 

Masha_2 said:
It's not a CTF it's a bank account with the trust aspect on it, when I move some money it comes as if it were my account. I haven't heard about CTF. 

And yes, this specific one states that to be managed for the benefit of the child. I asked this to the bank that I was saving for the benefit of my child and that was okay as I was observing how will I need to move money. it all seems clear to me, but just checking, the bank agents sometimes are not very well trained. 
I have another bank trust account and wanted to remove the trust aspect of it and be managed by my child. I was asked by the agent if before doing that I did want to move the funds from that account. 
and I asked also about using the trust account to fund a mortgage and if there was something I should be aware on doing so. and I was told that was okay, since I'm managing the account.

Did you have any legal advice when initially setting up the trust account?  It sounds like you're potentially relying on bank staff who may not be in the best positions to understand all the legal nuances of child trust accounts and beneficial ownership of the funds, etc, but did someone qualified advise you that such an account would be a suitable vehicle in which you could save a deposit for a property that you want to buy?

Thanks for your comment. I thought to rely in both banks where I have the trust accounts the fact that in one o them I was always moving money through and saving and using and giving back, etc to have something visible that would mean it's for my child, but the other one just built up with good interest rate for deposit with the understanding that the purpose is for the benefit of my child.

phillw

Masha_2 said:

I was confirmed that I could do any money transfers for the good of the child. 

"She will like living in this house I bought with her money" is not "for the good of the child".

You need to consider carefully what you do with the money if it's held on trust to her, if she knows what you do and you ever upset her then she can sue you.

You may be able to take the money out and buy a house, the question you need to ask yourself is how you would convince other people in court, who don't share your opinion. And if the trust was setup to hide money, and you then use it. It could become quite stressful for you

Masha_2

itsthelittlethings said:

Why didn’t you just save up to buy a house in your own bank account?

Just part of decisions I made in the case of unexpected events.

eskbanker

Masha_2 said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Why didn’t you just save up to buy a house in your own bank account?

eskbanker said:

Masha_2 said:
Well all the money in trust has come from my income and initially as a single mum I needed to have a secure place as in a trust but I always understood that could be used in many ways and managed by me. nevertheless I decided to use it as savings for our house. 

Masha_2 said:
It's not a CTF it's a bank account with the trust aspect on it, when I move some money it comes as if it were my account. I haven't heard about CTF. 

And yes, this specific one states that to be managed for the benefit of the child. I asked this to the bank that I was saving for the benefit of my child and that was okay as I was observing how will I need to move money. it all seems clear to me, but just checking, the bank agents sometimes are not very well trained. 
I have another bank trust account and wanted to remove the trust aspect of it and be managed by my child. I was asked by the agent if before doing that I did want to move the funds from that account. 
and I asked also about using the trust account to fund a mortgage and if there was something I should be aware on doing so. and I was told that was okay, since I'm managing the account.

Did you have any legal advice when initially setting up the trust account?  It sounds like you're potentially relying on bank staff who may not be in the best positions to understand all the legal nuances of child trust accounts and beneficial ownership of the funds, etc, but did someone qualified advise you that such an account would be a suitable vehicle in which you could save a deposit for a property that you want to buy?

Thanks for your comment. I thought to rely in both banks where I have the trust accounts the fact that in one o them I was always moving money through and saving and using and giving back, etc to have something visible that would mean it's for my child, but the other one just built up with good interest rate for deposit with the understanding that the purpose is for the benefit of my child.

That doesn't actually answer the question directly, but presumably you're effectively saying that you didn't have any formal advice and simply decided unilaterally to use your daughter's trust account for saving for a deposit, in the belief that this would qualify as being for her benefit?

Emmia

eskbanker said:

Masha_2 said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Why didn’t you just save up to buy a house in your own bank account?

eskbanker said:

Masha_2 said:
Well all the money in trust has come from my income and initially as a single mum I needed to have a secure place as in a trust but I always understood that could be used in many ways and managed by me. nevertheless I decided to use it as savings for our house. 

Masha_2 said:
It's not a CTF it's a bank account with the trust aspect on it, when I move some money it comes as if it were my account. I haven't heard about CTF. 

And yes, this specific one states that to be managed for the benefit of the child. I asked this to the bank that I was saving for the benefit of my child and that was okay as I was observing how will I need to move money. it all seems clear to me, but just checking, the bank agents sometimes are not very well trained. 
I have another bank trust account and wanted to remove the trust aspect of it and be managed by my child. I was asked by the agent if before doing that I did want to move the funds from that account. 
and I asked also about using the trust account to fund a mortgage and if there was something I should be aware on doing so. and I was told that was okay, since I'm managing the account.

Did you have any legal advice when initially setting up the trust account?  It sounds like you're potentially relying on bank staff who may not be in the best positions to understand all the legal nuances of child trust accounts and beneficial ownership of the funds, etc, but did someone qualified advise you that such an account would be a suitable vehicle in which you could save a deposit for a property that you want to buy?

Thanks for your comment. I thought to rely in both banks where I have the trust accounts the fact that in one o them I was always moving money through and saving and using and giving back, etc to have something visible that would mean it's for my child, but the other one just built up with good interest rate for deposit with the understanding that the purpose is for the benefit of my child.

That doesn't actually answer the question directly, but presumably you're effectively saying that you didn't have any formal advice and simply decided unilaterally to use your daughter's trust account for saving for a deposit, in the belief that this would qualify as being for her benefit?

Cynically, given a house deposit is likely to be £20k+ I think the OP is trying to hide their savings so that they can claim benefits like universal credit, by keeping monies in their name below £6k.

born_again

Masha_2 said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Why didn’t you just save up to buy a house in your own bank account?

eskbanker said:

Masha_2 said:
Well all the money in trust has come from my income and initially as a single mum I needed to have a secure place as in a trust but I always understood that could be used in many ways and managed by me. nevertheless I decided to use it as savings for our house. 

Masha_2 said:
It's not a CTF it's a bank account with the trust aspect on it, when I move some money it comes as if it were my account. I haven't heard about CTF. 

And yes, this specific one states that to be managed for the benefit of the child. I asked this to the bank that I was saving for the benefit of my child and that was okay as I was observing how will I need to move money. it all seems clear to me, but just checking, the bank agents sometimes are not very well trained. 
I have another bank trust account and wanted to remove the trust aspect of it and be managed by my child. I was asked by the agent if before doing that I did want to move the funds from that account. 
and I asked also about using the trust account to fund a mortgage and if there was something I should be aware on doing so. and I was told that was okay, since I'm managing the account.

Did you have any legal advice when initially setting up the trust account?  It sounds like you're potentially relying on bank staff who may not be in the best positions to understand all the legal nuances of child trust accounts and beneficial ownership of the funds, etc, but did someone qualified advise you that such an account would be a suitable vehicle in which you could save a deposit for a property that you want to buy?

Thanks for your comment. I thought to rely in both banks where I have the trust accounts the fact that in one o them I was always moving money through and saving and using and giving back, etc to have something visible that would mean it's for my child, but the other one just built up with good interest rate for deposit with the understanding that the purpose is for the benefit of my child.

So if you buy a house with this & decide at some point to move & your child does not want to. You have put yourself in a interesting position. As you will not be able to use the house at all. Given it is for the benefit of your child..

Emmia

Will the property be in the name of the OP or the child?

If it's in the name of the OP I can't see how the child's savings could be raided to purchase it without raising other questions...