Fixed savings joint account if one holder is non-UK resident?

born_again

Greenmeadow25 said:

born_again said:

Could be a case that Spanish tax also would need to be paid on interest.

Is there any reason this needs to be a joint account?

Might be better to get power of attorney set up for son, & leave it as a sole account for father.

The interest would go to my father. We were thinking of a joint account for right of survivorship, to avoid the lengthy probate process down the road (not to avoid inheritance tax as my father's estate would be within the threshold anyway).

Joint account. Joint interest.

As I said sounds like PofA is the best route.

eskbanker

born_again said:

Greenmeadow25 said:

born_again said:

Could be a case that Spanish tax also would need to be paid on interest.

Is there any reason this needs to be a joint account?

Might be better to get power of attorney set up for son, & leave it as a sole account for father.

The interest would go to my father. We were thinking of a joint account for right of survivorship, to avoid the lengthy probate process down the road (not to avoid inheritance tax as my father's estate would be within the threshold anyway).

Joint account. Joint interest.

As I said sounds like PofA is the best route.

My understanding is that, although joint accounts are regarded as 50/50 by default, this can be changed by nominating an alternative split to reflect actual beneficial ownership.

And if the son wants swift access to the father's money after death, Power of Attorney won't help, as it expires on death of the donor.

friolento

Greenmeadow25 said:

friolento said:

You could try an offshore account, e.g. from Skipton?

As the funds are from my father's UK house sale proceeds and the fact that he lives in the UK, we were hoping to use a high street bank, although it is proving more difficult than expected 🤔

High Street banks would probably be your worst choice, both in terms of the interest rate you get, and in terms of flexible and unbureaucratic terms. 

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/ has a complete listing of currently available UK nd offshore accounts. Unfortunately there is no filter for your precise requirements but it should still help you narrowing down your choices.

mta999

Could you put the money in just your name and simply transfer the interest to your father as and when? Obviously this means the interest would go on your tax return not his

Greenmeadow25

Thanks everyone for your comments.
After further research, it looks like it might be more suitable to look into a living trust as this will still avoid probate but without the hassle of setting up joint accounts.

eskbanker

Greenmeadow25 said:

Thanks everyone for your comments.
After further research, it looks like it might be more suitable to look into a living trust as this will still avoid probate but without the hassle of setting up joint accounts.

What's the aversion to probate (a process followed by the majority), and does the hassle and cost of setting up a living trust outweigh it?

Greenmeadow25

eskbanker said:

Greenmeadow25 said:

Thanks everyone for your comments.
After further research, it looks like it might be more suitable to look into a living trust as this will still avoid probate but without the hassle of setting up joint accounts.

What's the aversion to probate (a process followed by the majority), and does the hassle and cost of setting up a living trust outweigh it?

In our situation, yes.