Serious Question: how old do you think children should be before inheriting estate ?

[Twiglett]

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I think that sounds sensible.

We were thinking of something at 18 to help them if they go to college/uni, but a fixed sum amount, adjusted for inflation. Then the rest at 25.

Up until 25 at the discretion of trustees.

I've also done this recently and was advised 21 is ok, as if you leave it till 25 then 'you' have to pay for the trust to be running for longer.

I think 21.
And hope that he either has some sense, or that the sudden responsibility knocks some into him. that and the grief for his poor parents, of course....

25 i reckon

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We have to sort our wills out - thanks for the reminder, Twiglett.

My will states kids can inherit at 21....they get an income but the trust is in existence until they are 25. So they can't squander away the assets!!
I felt awful when I did it, as if I did not trust them, but now they are aproaching an age where they are adults I feel better about it.
Just think back at what you were like at 21, then compare it as to when you were 25....In my case, marriage and children, responsibility. A big difference.
It does not cost much to keep a trust for 4 years, and personbally I think it is worth it....the only problem I have is my children don't know that they are due to inherit.

DId it at 25.

My friend's younger brother squandered his entire inheritance (not huge but certainly enough for a deposit on a flat) at the age of 21. My friend was dreading him getting the money as she knew what would happen. Sure enough, he's spent the whole of his twenties paying off his debts (didn't just spend the inheritance) and saving for a deposit. 25 is a much more sensible age - they're much more likely to use it wisely IYSWIM.

My will states that the kids inherit half at age 21 and half at age 25. If I die before then, than my trustee will decide how est to spend the money with regard to their upkeep and college education.

My reasoning being (sorry - should have said before), they can make good use of some of the money at age 21 and graduating college, but there's a big difference in maturity levels between 21 and 25. By 25 they should have a pretty good idea of what to do with the rest of the money.

DP and i have discussed this and i've said 25!.
My reasoning is that she could still do what she wanted really but also have time to stand on her own two feet.
Then at 25 (which is quite mature i feel for most girls/women ), she'd be wise enough not to dwindle it away .

My will holds everything in trust until my children are 35. They would be allowed to get money out before hand for university, house deposits or other similar sensible things. I want my children to make their own way in life and not think that they can rest easy because they'll have my money soon. I also think it gives them some protection from potential partners preying on them solely for their money (much less wise and able to resist at 21 than 35). My children are only small now, so as they grow older and I see how responsible they are, I may change this to an earlier age.
I have however, made allowances for dh's children to inherit small sums at the age of 21 (bulk of my estate goes to my chidren) as they don't really stand a chance of doing anything with their lives anyway, so getting a sum of money at that age will not really change their lives. And they are more likely to have already started a family by then and would need the money.

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I'm in line with Sofia. If something happens to me while dd is under 21, dd is provided for regarding living expenses, uni, etc. Trustee will have discretion regarding helping with a house/flat deposit, and other large expenditures such as a wedding.

DD will not see a lump sum until 35, more at 40, and final payout at 45. My thinking is that I want her to have a profession, learn to support herself, and to know what it means to earn, spend within a budget, and save money. Figure from age 35-45 she is likely to have high costs regarding housing, and possibly children of her own, and their education. So, there will be money to help out from my estate when her expenses should be at their highest. In my opinion, kids who inherit significant sums in their 20's don't know how to manage it, are more likely to squander, and also don't have the same motivation to work/earn.

I based my decision looking back at myself at the same age. I hope my daughters will be as mature and sensible as I was when I was 25. At that point I had already been married for 4 years, my husband and I had struggled with money and I held down a very good job. There is no way I would have squandered an inheritance at age 25.

As it happens I did receive an inheritance of sorts at age 29. It would hardly be fair of me to expect my daughters to wait until they were older than that. Just my opinion.

Which part of it sounded harsh, Twiglett? The 35 for my children or the 21 for my stepkids? (Of course my children will never reach 35 because they are surely going to die from the molluscum that they have caught over the internet from your ds.)
I am due to inherit a very large amount of money from my parents (would have been held in trust for me until I was 35 if they had died early) and I am glad that I didn't have that in my hands when I was 21 (and I was extremely sensible with money even at that age).

We did 25. I felt the same as others that I wouldn't have been mature enough at 21 so why expect ds to be?

just wanted to sound a different note here. Dh's mum dies when he was 23 and I was 21. He inheritied a chunk of money - nothing enormous, ie not a share of the house or anything but about £20k. He spent most of it supporting him and me through our post-graduate degrees and some on a few shares, which eventually - some years later - were turned into a welcome contribution to the deposit on our frst house. I don't know if other people are talking about much larger sums of money and I also know this wasn't my inheritance (tho, dh and his family considered his share as much mine as his - coz that's what they're like)but I know that at the ages of 21 and 23 we were more than capable of handling money, there was no way we would have wasted it and it struck a reasonable balance between being a small helping hand but not being something that would teach us to be lazy. I also think that had I inherited a much larger sum (ie if anything had happened to my mum, in which case I would have got a share of a house) I would have been capable of handling it at that age

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You lot are getting me worried - we said 22 in our wills, I was swayed by dh. Another consideration was the age of the trustees, who would be getting on a bit by then.

dh and I will just have to not die early, so it won't be a problem

Twiglett, are you talking a shed load of money or property? If property, how can you divide it up?

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Well I would like to put my rental property in their names now - but apparently you can't do that and earn an income from it.

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