Gifting and Leaving Money to Your Grandchild (Part 2)

My previous blog post discussed the concept of  deemed dispositions when making gifts to grandchildren while alive and upon death. It also covered the issues of income attribution and ensuring family law is considered when making or providing for gifts. 

Today, I discuss gifting by grandparents using a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP), Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), or Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). I also briefly discuss estate planning considerations for grandparents.

RESPs

RESPs are great vehicles to save for a grandchild’s education. A grandparent can contribute under their own plan for a grandchild, but it is very important for the grandparent to ensure they are not duplicating contributions made by the child’s parents.

If both a grandparent and parent have plans for a child, they must coordinate their contributions on a yearly basis. If the grandparent intends to make the annual contribution, the child's parents may not even want to bother opening a RESP for that child. Alternatively, the grandparent can just gift the yearly contribution to the parent, who then puts the money into the RESP they have set up for the child.

RESPs upon the death of a grandparent

If a grandparent (subscriber) dies, things can get very complex and deserve their own blog post.

However, here are two key things to consider in your estate planning:

1. Ensuring you have a successor subscriber so the plan can continue, or the RESP may become part of your estate.
2. A clause in your will setting out your intentions for the RESP, including whether you wish to have your estate continue making the RESP contributions.

Takeaway #1 – If you set up a RESP for your grandchild, ensure their parents don’t already have a plan. If they do have a RESP, communicate each year with them. Ensure your estate planning considers the RESP.

TFSAs

TFSAs are a great tax-free option to help your grandchildren (who are 18 or over) save for education, a house, a car, vacation or even retirement (if they can look that far ahead). 

Care should be taken to ensure you do not over-contribute to the TFSA, as penalties will apply.

TFSAs are far simpler than RESPs when giving money to a grandchild. The TFSA is set up in your grandchild’s name, so you don’t have the estate concerns you have as an RESP subscriber; however, you should not make direct contributions (you should gift the money to your grandchild to contribute), and you have no control over the TFSA and what your grandchild does with the money in their TFSA. If they wanted to, they could cash in the TFSA and travel the world - and you would have no say.

A grandparent does not require a clause in their will to deal with the TFSA. A grandparent could have a clause in their will to have their estate continue making yearly gifts equal to the TFSA contribution limit.

Takeaway #2 – Gifts to fund a TFSA for a child 18 and over are tax efficient and a great way to assist them in funding their education, home purchase or retirement savings. Just be aware, they can decide to use the money for a fancy sports car or vacation and you have no say in the matter.

RRSPs

For grandparents making gifts to grandchildren, an RRSP is like a TFSA in that it is set up in the grandchild’s name, the grandparent has no control over the RRSP. A gift for a RRSP should be on the understanding the grandchild will not touch the money until their retirement. But a grandparent has no way to enforce this.

RRSPs can be set up at any age, as long as the child has earned income and a social insurance number. Practically, there is limited tax savings value in an RRSP when a child has minimal taxable income (although there is a tax-deferred component and it can assist in teaching a grandchild about saving for retirement). A TFSA is often the better choice if you plan to gift $6,000 a year or less to your grandchild.

If you intend to gift more than $6,000 (assuming the first $6,000 goes to a TFSA), an RRSP contribution can be made equal to your grandchild’s RRSP contribution limit. It often makes sense for the grandchild to not claim an RRSP deduction until their income is higher and carry forward the contribution until they can obtain a larger tax refund. In any case, the RRSP money grows tax-free.

The grandparent and child need to ensure they do not exceed the child’s RRSP contribution limit, or penalties may apply.

Grandparent gifting to RRSP: Example

An example may help clarify the above.

Say a child works part-time, is over 18 (so has no attribution concerns) and makes $15,000 to $20,000 a year. The child’s RRSP contribution room is 18% of their annual income, so let’s say $3,000 a year for simplicity's sake (they may also have contribution room from prior years). The grandparent gives the grandchild $3,000 a year for five years to contribute to their RRSP while the child is in university. There would likely be little to no tax refund if the RRSP contribution is claimed each year while the grandchild is in school, due to tuition credits. 

But if the grandchild works full-time in the year after graduation and makes, say, $60,000, they could claim the RRSP carryforward deduction in Year 6 and obtain a refund – likely somewhere in the $4,000 to $5,000 range, while getting the tax-free growth on their RRSP assets from Day 1.

Takeaway #3 – Gifting money for a grandchild’s RRSP will typically be your last option (likely better to gift to RESP or TFSA).

Your will

A will is best discussed with an estate specialist. I will just provide a few considerations:

1. If you are leaving money to your grandchildren in your will, ensure you consider additional grandchildren that could be born after you draft your will or even after you pass away.
2. Is the bequest going to be outright or in trust? You may wish an outright gift for smaller bequests and if the grandchildren are older. If the grandchildren are younger or the bequest is large, a trust (a formal properly executed trust) will likely provide greater protection from the whims of an immature child.
3. Most legal writers suggest grandparents consider their own children’s financial circumstances, as you do not want to skip a generation from your children to your grandchildren when your own children may need the money and unintentionally create resentment with their own children.
4. At what age do you want your grandchildren to have access to the inheritance?

Takeaway #4 – There are multiple trips and traps in leaving bequests to your grandchildren. It is imperative you have an experienced estate lawyer draft your will if you are leaving substantial assets to your grandchildren.

I am finally done, and now I’ll catch my breath. Somehow one brief blog turned into two parts and almost 2,000 words. But long-time readers will not be surprised, I have never been one to buy into the conventional wisdom of keeping everything short because people have short attention spans. Anyways, stepping off my soapbox, grandparents: please consider the various issues I have discussed when considering gifts and bequests to your grandchildren.

The content on this blog has been carefully prepared, but it has been written in general terms and should be seen as broad guidance only. The blog cannot be relied upon to cover specific situations and you should not act, or refrain from acting, upon the information contained therein without obtaining specific professional advice. Please contact BDO Canada LLP to discuss these matters in the context of your particular circumstances. BDO Canada LLP, its partners, employees and agents do not accept or assume any liability or duty of care for any loss arising from any action taken or not taken by anyone in reliance on the information on this blog or for any decision based on it.

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