Kids miss out on KiwiSaver top-up
Q. I have a 9-year-old granddaughter. Shortly after she was born I opened a KiwiSaver account for her and contributed $55 per month to that account. Earlier this year I increased the contributions to $90 per month or $1080 per year. This sum is above the $1042 per year to qualify for the Government top-up. My granddaughter does pay income tax at 10 per cent on a term deposit and also a savings account, both in her name. Is a child entitled to this top-up?
A. Sorry, the member tax credit of $521 that is available to KiwiSaver members who contribute $1042 into their accounts each year is only available to those who are over 18 and under 65 (or for those over 65 who have been in the scheme for fewer than five years).
Q. I have a friend who has been with her partner for about three years. She is a reasonably high earner, has a good amount in KiwiSaver, does all of the unpaid work around their house and basically has the role of provider whether she likes it or not. He is at best a low-earner (if he is even working) and pays for little due to this, has a child outside of their relationship that he pays for, he does little to nothing around the house and has no KiwiSaver or savings.
They rent a house which they pay half and half for but she pays for everything else and she paid for all of the furniture. I understand that the house deposit that she is saving for would come solely from her income alone as he is unable or unwilling to save and contribute. I suspect she is also paying off debts incurred by him but under her name as he has bad credit.
Their finances are separate and they do not have access to each other’s accounts. He often threatens to break up with her and ‘‘take everything she has’’ meaning that if she were to leave, she would be significantly worse off than him and he literally would have made tens of thousands from being in the relationship. This concerns her. Is this the case? Can he legally take half of everything she has despite him contributing very little to the relationship, both in money and unpaid chores around the house? Is there anything that she can do? Even to get a lawyer to help her will cost her a lot and will cost him nothing.
A. Yes, if they have been together for three years, he can make a claim to half of their relationship property, which would usually include things such as, in this case, her income during the relationship, savings and the household furniture.
Lawyer Thomas Biss tells me that’s because the law assumes that if one couple is a saver and the other a spender, the saving half gets some of the benefit of the spender’s spending – and so on. They take joint ownership for their relationship decisions.
She could set up a contracting out agreement that would protect some of her assets but he would have to agree to it and get his own independent legal advice.
Do you have a personal finance or consumer question? Email susan.edmunds@stuff.co.nz