financial planning for grandchildren

We have a trust set up whereby our house when it’s sold will be 80% to be divided between 4 children and the remaining 20% divided between 7 grandchildren. Hope this works.

I am not providing anything for my grandchildren except bits of jewellery and keepsakes. Whatever I have is left to my 3 children.

i think you be best to consult a financial planner.

Sort of depends on how much you are talking about. I've sorted it in my Will its not going to be a lot. The house goes 30% to each of my three daughters and the remaining 10% to the grandchildren. Any money I have other than the house is Willed 10% each to the grandchildren and the remaining 40% to the three daughters. That wont be much either as I am intending to spend it. I will make small loans to my daughters if they need it for something sensible and it is always written out that they must pay me or my estate back and they sign for it.

Do you mean in your will, or now? I have set up a modest savings plan for each of my GC for now, but have left my "estate" (!) to my children only. My GC are young.

It depends so much on your personal circumstances and health, and the age of your grandchildren.
If you can afford to do so, it’s a good idea to use your tax free gifting allowance each year to its maximum, which is £3000, that could be invested for your grandchildren with no comeback later.

I'm hoping my daughter will be in a stable enough financial position for me to leave half of whatever I have to her and half to my grandson.

It may be worth consulting a solicitor. I’ve decided to leave nothing to grandchildren and trust their parents to use their inheritance wisely, so their children benefit

I've discussed this with my son who is parent of GDs and he will carry out my wishes when the time and circumstances are right for them to be indulged. That is assuming I have something to leave and do not get caught up in this unholy mess of care home fees. In the present I've taught them what a DD is by indulging them in a regular monthly allowance. They have a Go Henry account which I've seen advertised. The only qualm I have is that I believe this company charges a monthly management fee of £2:99 which I think is an absolute rip off if true. However, that's only my opinion and down to their parents to manage.

I think solicitors are one's best source of information on GC financial planning. We've involved our solicitor in all aspects of finances for our daughters, GC, GGC (apart everyday type cash gifts) - IMO, only chance to do it right.

Please if you do leave money to your GCs do it with care. Many years ago a boy I knew got thousands when he was 18. As he received it his parent's marriage was breaking up. He blew the lot in a few months and was eventually taken in by another friend when he was found begging on the streets. He settled down and redid his A levels. But it could so easily have gone the wrong way for him.

We won't leave anything to the DGC. We have 9 from our older DC but none so far by the DS in their mid 20s. We could easily die before younger DGC are born. Better for us just to leave everything to be shared evenly between the DC.

Will be divided equally between our AC. Our GC will benefit later down the line!

Take care as others have said a lot of money on their 18th birthday can cause a lot of damage. Probably the easiest is a child ISA held in trust, gifts arent limited to just £3000 you can give more out of “Income” if you can afford it.

We have put lump sums into discretionary trusts as stocks and shares for our grandchildren. It means we still have control over when they can access the money. You can do ISAs or premium bonds for grandchildren but they have access to the money at 16 or 18 which we think is too young. Putting the money in trust also takes it out of our estate for inheritance tax. You definitely need a financial advisor or solicitor to do this for you

My house will go to my two children …and any monies left in any accounts will go to 2 grandkids! My son has no children and is NOT a home owner …my daughter who has the 2 kids has two homes. I will not deprive my son of his share of my house to include the grandkids….if he had kids it might be different.

….also my grandchildren will eventually inherit four houses …their mums two… their dads one and there aunt ( no kids) home. All in all as things stand now that would be about £1,500,000 in credit.

Five years ago my husband and I thought about leaving 15% of our estate to any grandchildren (we were expecting our first grandchild) and the remaining 85% between our son and daughter. We rang our daughter to put the idea to her and as is said 'the s* hit the fan). Both she and her partner went mad and since then haven't spoken to us. No cards or presents at Christmas, birthdays or Mother's Day. Bear in mind we called them to discuss the idea, it was not set in stone. 5 years on I still break my heart.

That's awful jennymolly. I know it's often suggested that people discuss with AC what their wills will contain but it isn't always a good idea.

Inheritance is a gift, not a right.

When our eldest GC was born, we were working and started to pay money each month into an investment fund. On birth of 2nd GC we split the fund between them and continued to pay the same amount into the fund only stopping when we retired. Money left to them from their Great GM also went into the fund. We have control of the fund and were able to help first born to buy a car and have just paid out to help his sister do the same. The money is there if they need it but I would never bestow a large amount on a young person. I think they get 5% of our estate when we die but this will be held in trust until they are 25. We have talked to them and they know the investment made on their behalf can go up and down, but when it's gone - it's gone.

Divide equally between your offspring.
The grandkids will benefit later down the line.
If, God forbid, one of your immediate children dies then their share should stay in their estate for the benefit of their children, if they have any, if they don’t have a family then their share should go to remaining sibling.

Spend your cash now, saves all the hassle.

I have 2 grandchildren. I pay £25 per month for each of them into the tax free trust funds set up when they were born. I think the maximum you can pay in is £50 per month (their mum pays in the other £25). With regard to ‘when we’re gone’ everything will be left to my daughter. I’ve discussed it with her and she will treat the children fairly from our estate. When we made our wills, the solicitor said, in her opinion, this was the best approach.

My parents set up what they called the 'music fund' for their grandchildren - I can't remember exactly how much this was, but it was a fairly modest sum which at the time paid for 'extra' things for our children (and all the other grandchildren), such as piano lessons, sports equipment etc. My 'children' are now in their 40s, and still reap the benefits of the extra musical and sporting skills. So we have started making modest payments to our 5 grandchildren to provide them with similar advantages. Their parents decide how the money should be spent to enrich their children's lives. We look on it as a great investment for the future - and there's no doubt that families at the moment need a bit of help with the 'extras' in life!