Son(17) inherits €75k on his 18th birthday. Any way to delay until hes 21?

My beloved mother in law died recently. In her will she stipulated that each of her grandchildren is to receive a bequest. My son is 16. In two years time he will receive approx €75000. He will still be in school! Can I somehow make sure that he doesn't get this till he is at least 21 (I am sure the answer is No though)...

Nope

Any harm in 'forgetting' to tell him for a while?

Depends on the kid really - would probably try to keep this information from him until he is nearer 18 - but that would probably prove difficult if all his cousins know about it - unless all the parents decide the same course of action. He will probably have matured quite a bit by then and maybe you won't have the same worries.

Do you think he'll go to third level education. It also depends what he wants to do with his life - maybe he will be happy to have a little splurge (like a fancy laptop, little car, new bike or whatever) and then put the rest in a deposit account for a few years.

Think at the end of the day you'll probably have to sit down and try and negotiate a good plan for this money and try to get across to him how lucky he is!

You could start by having a chat.. ask him what if he had that sort of money, what would he do.. Come up with a hypothetical plan.. Guide him along the way, suggest putting most of it aside etc.. then put it into action when the money comes through..

If he is sensible than you can have a discussion about it. Maybe open a post office savings cert scheme and tie up the money for some time. If you cannot afford 3rd level for him but this would help, maybe discuss that. If he's silly with money don't tell him and put it away until he grows up. That would be about 30 for a male.

That's what I would love to do bronte!! However, I am assuming the solicitor will write to him at the appointed time and enclose a cheque! I think its a colossal amount of money for a teenager to have access to!

emeralds said:

That's what I would love to do bronte!! However, I am assuming the solicitor will write to him at the appointed time and enclose a cheque! I think its a colossal amount of money for a teenager to have access to!

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Yes it is, and I think there is nothing you can do to stop him getting it, however all you can do is try to guide him how best to use the money.

I wish you the very best of luck in doing this.

If you trust the banks...suggest putting it in a high interest rate term account--he might appreciate a larger amount in 2-3 years

WindUp said:

If you trust the banks...suggest putting it in a high interest rate term account--he might appreciate a larger amount in 2-3 years

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As per your name/handle/nom deplume (WindUp) I assume you are "having a laugh" re: your last post.

This is an 18 year old we are dealing with..................
Wait a few years..............Are you serious............????????????

Seems like a perfect opportunity for a young man to learn some responsibility. Although you don't seem to have much faith in your own son. either way, it's his money and his problem (good or bad), not yours. If he's smart he can save the money as a nice starter in the new country he emigrates to after he graduates college.

It really seems that the OP doesn't have much faith in her son for some reason... I was raised to know the value of money and I wouldn't have splurged it at 16 or any age since! But I know there's something about the "you could be dead tomorrow, spend!" brigade in Ireland...

WindUp said:

If you trust the banks...suggest putting it in a high interest rate term account--he might appreciate a larger amount in 2-3 years

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Would you not feel a hell of a lot better letting your son enjoy the money if he wants to, rather than leave it with a Bank that might go bang and certainly will not do him any favours. After all it is his money and he should be allowed to do whatever he feels best for him and not what is best for you. He has two years until he is 18 so has enough time to think about it.

I'd encourage him to study business and finance in his leaving cert if he hasnt already chosen his subjects. What Mercman said has some merit provided your son isn't isn't so naive to get into the ''Charlie Sheen lifestyle.'' 75k will be not much of a comfort to him when hes in his 90's if he doesnt have good times to look back on.
Does he save his pocket money ? What kind of personality does he have ? Has he been well behaved and sensible so far ? It is an aspect of parenting that needs to begin at an early age but perhaps even now encourage him to save while he thinks he is poor and start finding examples of recklessness and dropping anecdotes into conversations like for example the story my dad told me about a friend of his who won a big claim in a motorbike accident and had a great life for 2 years staying at fancy hotels and buying overpriced junk but then one day when he was drunk on holiday after 2 years of reckless partying he went to the ATM machine and there was nothing in his account and he couldn't believe it. It's much harder to save money in a climate like this but it can be spent very very easily. And when it's gone it's gone !!!!

Thanks for the opinions. We have a reasonable amount of time to reflect on the situation. As it stands at this moment, he is sensible with money. He has a bank account with an atm/laser card and uses that regularly (we put his monthly pocket money in by standing order). He gets a bank statement monthly and I have watched him reading it and noticing transactions that he doesn't remember. He had to call the bank with an issue with the card and dealt with that easily. He got a laptop for his birthday and wanted one that was more than we were filling to pay for - so he asked could he use some of his own money to top it up..So he seems to have absorbed the saving ethic that we hoped he would..Having said all that, my own personal opinion is that 18 is still very young to have access to that amount of money. But we do have time to lay the foundations for sensible use of it...