Money left in will

[annonymousnamechange]

Posted in money as well as it seems relevant to both topics. My child's been fortunate enough to be left a sum of money in a will. I need to check but I'm pretty sure it's to be held in trust till they're older. Can anyone let me know what this means practically in simple terms? Is there a specific account I need to use for this or can I just use a savings account? Also someone has said I'll need to pay tax on this?? Seems weird that a teenager would pay tax when there's no other income (and although they're very fortunate to have it it's not big enough to exceed their personal tax allowance!). Thank you!

I don't know about the trust. Do you know if the money has been left in their name, or left to them for a parent to manage?
They will not have to pay any tax.

Hi @Hadalifeonce it was an amount to be divided amongst grandchildren, so not named specifically. Not sure if that answers the question, I'd need to dig a bit further to get the actual wording.

Just set up a bank account in child’s name.

A child has a tax allowance the same as any adult. So as long as the interest on the account does not exceed the current tax allowance then tax will not be due. The current tax allowance is 12750.

if the child earns money in the future say in a part time job then that has to be added to the interest earnt on a bank account. Again as long as income is below the annual tax allowance it will not attract tax.

In this situation I just opened savings accounts at Yorkshire building society in DC named with me as the Trustee.

There was a bit on children’s savings accounts on the Martin Lewis show last week, parents don’t have to pay tax on interest if the money hasn’t come from parents.

"I need to check but I'm pretty sure it's to be held in trust till they're older."

A child cannot receive an inheritance under a will until they are 18 (or older if the will says so, eg 21 or 25).

If there are any trustees named in the will then it is for them to do this otherwise it is for the parents of the child to do it.

As others have said, you can open a children's bank account and that is the simplest way of doing it. Either that or something like a Junior ISA.