My father had been doing this the last few years, paying the £9250 into a 5-year-fixed account for my kids each September, the intention being that when they matured my (by-then mid-twenties) kids could either pay off the tuition fees or use the money for some other sensible purpose ("not buying an expensive car" my dad said specifically to them), I think he had in mind a deposit for a first house/flat.
Sadly my dad was ill and passed away last September. My mother said she still wants to continue paying this (my two younger kids have 1 year, and 2 years left at uni respectively, the eldest graduated last year and so got the whole 3 years of fees).
The reasons I'm hesitating on this is:
- My mother has MCI, possibly early stage dementia, I have an LPA, but feel uncomfortable paying this from her account when I know my mother is no longer able to remember how much money she has. If she was 100% well I'd leave it to her to sort out with my kids.
- She might need that money herself for care costs, she has over £200k in savings (plus the house she owns and lives in), and since she's already needing some low-level care, giving away nearly £30k could be seen as deprivation of assets.
- I don't know how this will go down with my sister, who has no children and has not been well herself. I'm not even sure she knew that our dad had been doing this before, it was something he sorted out direct with my kids.
Any thoughts and opinions welcome.