What are minors rights to their income?

[LdiJ]

I agree with, Zigner.

Parents do not "own" the money their minor child earns from employment but they have the right to have the child help with household expenses if necessary and, should the child get into legal trouble, the parents can use the child's own money to settle a claim.

To prevent access to earnings, the minor child can open his own bank account and have money from his employer directly deposited into his account. The parents would need a court order to access the money.

If a parent asserts ownership rights in items purchased by the minor with his own money, the minor potentially could take the parents to court to recover the items.

The cases that are generally decided in court are the ones involving parents' rights to control large sums of money earned by children (often children in the entertainment field). Courts generally side in favor of the children.

Money earned by an 18 year old adult would not be questioned as belonging to the 18 year old. The law really isn't different for a 16 year old. Only the responsibilities of parent to child differ.

Are you sure that the bolded is possible in FL? Its not in my state. In my state you have to have an adult on the account as well if you are a minor.

 

[quincy]

Are you sure that the bolded is possible in FL? Its not in my state. In my state you have to have an adult on the account as well if you are a minor.

Yes.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I agree with, Zigner.

Parents do not "own" the money their minor child earns from employment but they have the right to have the child help with household expenses if necessary and, should the child get into legal trouble, the parents can use the child's own money to settle a claim.

I disagree with that given the case law in Florida. It seems clear that the parents in fact do have the right to all the earnings and not just for contribution to household expenses. In short, the parents DO own the earnings of the child. If believe me to be wrong, I would appreciate you citing the case law or statute upon which you rely for that. I have already given you the law upon which I rely.

 

[HRZ]

Since when can an unemancipated minor properly open up his or her own account in FL?

 

[LdiJ]

Yes.

These sites seem to disagree with you:

https://www.wellsfargo.com/checking/teen/

https://customerservice.santanderbank.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3058/~/how-old-must-you-be-to-open-a-checking-account?

https://www.thebalance.com/bank-accounts-for-people-under-18-315365

https://pocketsense.com/can-minor-checking-account-7160346.html

I could give you more if needed.

In any case it appears that the bank is allowed to set the rules for opening a bank account and most require a parent or guardian to be on the account as a co-owner, as minors cannot sign contracts if they are not emancipated.

 

[quincy]

Since when can an unemancipated minor properly open up his or her own account in FL?

See Florida Stat 655.77: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0600-0699/0655/Sections/0655.77.html

 

[LdiJ]

See Florida Stat 655.77: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=URL=0600-0699/0655/Sections/0655.77.html

That link pulls up a page that says: Statute cannot be found.

 

[quincy]

That link pulls up a page that says: Statute cannot be found.

Fixed it.

Did you read the information in your Pocket Sense link, by the way?

 

[LdiJ]

Fixed it.

That link does NOT say that a minor can have a bank account without a parent or guardian as a co-owner. It merely says that the minor may withdraw funds from the account.

 

[quincy]

It is up to the institution.

An employer can directly deposit funds into a minor's account and the minor can withdraw these funds.

 

[LdiJ]

It is up to the institution.

An employer can directly deposit funds into a minor's account and the minor can withdraw these funds.

Yes, that is what is says and I do not believe that anyone disagrees with that. What it does NOT say, is that a minor can open a bank account without a parent or guardian as co-owner of the account. If you can find a bank that will allow that, more power to you. The bank would be opening an account for someone whom they would be unable to force a contract against.

 

[justalayman]

But the law is different for a minor. Per the law TM provided, not only can a parent simply take a minor child’s money, they can actually force the child to go to work so the parent can take their money.

It seems a bit like slavery but because it’s your child and the law does require you provide for them, apparently the law feels you can essentially charge your own children to Live with you.

The court cases dealing with children in the entertainment industry have been different ever since Jackie Coogan

 

[quincy]

There are exceptions to the law (removal of disabilities of minors). Taxing did touch on these.

 

[JacobsMom]

Okay, so I'm getting conflicted replies and just want to clear up a couple things.

1) My son isn't forced to work let alone to contribute to the family. This last year we allowed him to fail and he blew every last penny, including his $200 tax return. We figured to try and let him learn the hard way except that idea seems to have backfired and now he's even more greedy, saying that we legally cannot manage his money for him. He promises to stick to a budget so that he can save for a car and does well for a couple weeks and then blows it again. He's not learning and it's highly frustrating. His birthday is in December and we gave him the deadline to have saved half and we'll match the amount but so far it appears that he's not taking things seriously and plans to wait last minute to save? Our jobs as parents is to raise a responsible, independent individual and he's just not having it, it seems. He now has just a little over 4 months to save up for his first vehicle and he doesn't have anything to show for it. In retrospect, it's a lesson learned for us instead lol. Now to get a handle on the situation, my husband put his foot down and is forcing him to save asap.

2) I'm unsure about other states, but here in Florida, a minor does have to have a parent on a banking account with them and that is a joint account until the parent removes themselves from the account once the child turns 18. It is a joint account so we do have access to his income since his pay is direct deposited, so it's not like he can cash a paycheck and keep the money hidden from us. I myself, am able to see what his account activity is at any time including any of his "free trials" for online games that he's signed up for (which I've made him call these places himself to cancel but he's not learning unfortunately). So, my husband has confiscated our sons debit card to manage his irresponsible spending behavior.

3) Our son feels violated and angry that his independence has been taken away, understandably, however now thinks that were only trying to control his budgeting for the purpose of spending his money ourselves, which is simply not true. We did give him the chance to do the right thing but also gave him the chance to learn the hard way, which now he feels "the hard way" is unfair and illegal, which is why I asked here.

I know minors cannot sign into legal contracts and I know that while he is a minor, we have full control over his well-being including setting him up for a successful future and as his parents, we refuse to allow him to grow up thinking he can loaf around, being irresponsible, blowing his money etc. We feel that this is a wonderful life lesson that he will eventually thank us for being tough and adament but meanwhile, I just want to make sure we're not overstepping any laws in doing so.

Per my husband, he would like to see our son follow in his footsteps, obtain a vehicle at 17, be responsible for it (maintenance etc), manage his own finances, work his way up the corporate ladder etc; but our son has hit a horrible time and is rebelling at most every advice we give but is excelling at school and work so that's wonderful. I personally believe that we took the wrong route with allowing him to mess up to begin with. He got that little taste of independence and is now throwing a fit and brought up the legal aspect which had me worried, so here I am. My husband and I refuse to continue being his driver until he's 18, nor do we want to sit back watching him live frivolously while we provide everything else for him. It would be a different story if he wasnt working, earning his own income but he is and he should be able to purchase his own fancy colognes if he wants rather than expecting us to (which we refuse to buy) simply because it's a hygiene thing and we're his parents and legally "have to" lol.

Thank you to everyone whose replied so far. Please, if there's anymore information, bylaws etc that you can share, I welcome all comments.

 

[Taxing Matters]

It appears that in Florida the parents may take the income of their minor child other than minors working in the entertainment and pro sports industries, or otherwise capitalizing on fame. Here, you are not taking the money to pay for something for yourself, or even to contribute to household expenses, but merely to put aside for him in savings instead of letting him spend it as he wants to do. Even if your son should sue (and without a lawyer that would be quite a challenge) I don't see a court ruling against you on this one. The kid isn't losing anything here; he'll get the money in due course.