Dear LPG,

I am not an authority on the subject, and even though I am still in my early 60s I have been thinking that it might be a good idea to open a joint bank account with my children so that when the inevitable happens they at least have sufficient money to make the necessary arrangements, if you know what I mean.

My father died recently and I learned one thing that the books don’t really tell you, and that is that funerals can cost a lot more than the prepayment that you hand over to the funeral director, even if you do that in advance. Most funeral prepayments don’t include the cost of any receptions, and in some cultures it is not unusual to have a pre and post funeral gathering at such a time. 

With that in mind I thought about having a joint bank account with my children so that, when the time comes, there is at least some money that remains unfrozen and that they can have access to.    At the moment we are all being faced with the quick funeral service that few attend and many watch via Zoom, but if I outlive that, I think that I would prefer a bit of a celebration when I finally make my exit.   I know that there are now a lot of adverts on the television which are trying to persuade people that all that pomp should be dispensed with, but I have my reservations about how successful they are in getting the majority of people to go with a whimper unless they have no financial choice.

So, with two children who appear to like each other and not be fighting amongst themselves, I have decided that I would like to leave a bit of money in a joint bank account that they will be able to access when the time comes.

A bit of internet reading has taught me that you have to have kids that like and trust each other, and there may be some advantage in adopting an ‘everybody in’ approach as opposed to choosing one or two of several offspring while the others get really upset about this whole thing.  Now that I have done a little internet research, learnt a little about how to get started, and the pitfalls and advantages of such a scheme, I thought it would be a good idea to pass it on so that any other reader thinking about doing this can be a bit more aware of what they are getting themselves into.

I have come to the conclusion that you have to trust someone and if my two dip in beforehand that is up to them. I have every intention of starting this account while I am relatively young, giving me a little time to see if they abuse it, letting the amount in it grow gradually and living for a while yet, who knows…

KC, New Cross

KC shares his research…

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