We get this question a lot.
I have two children myself and like you have lived elsewhere (UK) where setting up an investment portfolio for a minor is straightforward.
Your main issues include
Finding an account that will accept the minor has a beneficial ownership and will not apply excessive account minimums.
Maintaining control beyond age 18 if you use a bare trust, it’s their money and off to Ibiza they go!!!
Taxation
Anti avoidance provisions will tax a minors income as yours but bizarrely capital gains belong to the minor.
Finding an investment contract that qualifies for income tax and cgt rather than punitive exit tax.
If you have a decent investment portfolio (€1m plus) the best answer is almost certainly establishing a structure to own the family wealth, lash in a loan so that you can continue to benefit and let the gains accrue to the next generation at lower marginal rates of tax and with no capital acquisitions tax.
The alternative for the rest of us is to wait until I complete this piece of work....
Contracts with minors
Regarding contract law, the general rule at common law is that a minor does not have the capacity to enter a legally binding contract. There are two exceptions to this rule, contracts
for necessaries and beneficial contracts of service will be held to be valid if they are in the best interests of the minor. Contracts for necessaries usually include contracts for food, clothing and lodging; however, the courts have held that contracts for items regarding
education and further training such as school books and training uniforms and vehicles for work are also enforceable.
Such items were held to be necessaries in the following cases
First Charter Financial Bank v Musclow ( 1974)
Soon v Wilson (1962)
Roberts v Gray
Beneficial contracts for services usually involve contracts for apprenticeships or contracts with agents or managers, and are only enforceable if they are to the advantage of and in the best interests of the minor.
The Age of Majority Act 1984 reduced from 21 years to 18 years the commencement of legal Adulthood in the Republic of Ireland.
So, if it could be argued that an investment contract is a "necessary" for a minor then the contract might be enforceable.
I am currently working through these legal precedents with lawyers with a view to establishing a suitable contractual solution.
Marc Westlake CFP®, TEP, EFP, APFS, QFA
Www.globalwealth.ie