Summer is just around the corner. You’re planning your holidays and you’d like to take your 8-year-old daughter on a dream vacation. She inherited a large amount, and you’re wondering if you can use her money to pay for part of the trip. The answer is, probably not.
The obligation of support and maintenance
As parents, you are also your child’s legal tutor and have the obligation to provide for them, which includes assuming the costs related to ensuring their well-being. This obligation, known as the obligation of support and maintenance, refers to expenses related to things like food, lodging, clothing and education. It also includes recreational activities and vacations.
An inheritance does not absolve you of your obligations
The fact that your child inherited money does not absolve you of your obligation to support her with your own money and to provide for her basic and other needs, if you can afford to do so. This means you must pay for the trip yourself, and the child’s patrimony must be kept intact until she reaches full age.
Are there any exceptions?
In certain exceptional circumstances, when there is an essential need to be met, you can use some of the child’s inheritance to pay for expenses related to things like healthcare, tuition, or return-to-work programs. For example, if your child wants to take a school trip to learn a new language, but you can’t afford it and financing isn’t an option, you may be able to use the child’s patrimony. Visit our Web site page Obligations related to the administration of the property of a minor for more information. Each case is unique. The most important thing is that you make decisions based on the child’s best interests.
