I am hoping someone has some experience with this. Our dd just got her first check for a Union commercial that she booked. The standard amount went into her trust fund account and the rest was issued in a check. My question is this, we would like her to get a lot more of it put into her trust fund account. What is the right way to go about getting this done for the future?

NO!!!! These trust accounts pay crappy interest and it is not in your dd's best interest to deposit any more than required into it. Open a CD or invest in securities so that her money will grow. You may want to ask a financial advisor what the safest, highest return investment might be. You are responsible for her money and you need to invest it with care, but dumping it into a regular savings account is the wrong thing to do.

Not blond, thank you. It makes sense and I will look into it. I wonder who has the best rates now. Also how do you separate out the portion that goes to them and what goes to you. We are looking at giving her 80%.

What do you mean, what goes to you? 100% is hers.

That is what I thought, 100% went to her. Thank you for clearing that up. It was the Coogan part that confused me and some of the conversations on the board. We wanted it to go to her.

Regarding taxes does the check to her get taxed as well?

Taxes should already be taken out, but if not then yes you have to file a tax return for her. There is a section on bizparentz.com that deals with actor's taxes.

Thank you for all of your help. On the paperwork that we got it said taxes were taken out and the breakdown of them. I was not sure if that covered the whole thing or just what was in the trust fund. I am thinking though it is for the whole thing. We only want her to have the money. It is her dream and she deserves it.

a question. how do you account for the expenses associated with these earnings. if they are significant, can't the child pay them from the earnings?

What do you mean by expenses? If you had a kid playing sports, would you charge them for mileage, parking, hotels at tournaments, etc? One baseball bat can cost $300 (I know, cause I've bought a few. lol). If your kid takes dance classes but is not interested in working professionally, are you charging them for it?

You as a parent are responsible for making financial decisions that your family can afford. Just because your kid is earning income, it doesn't justify you charging them for the expenses. If you can't afford it you probably shouldn't do it.

We are quite honest with our kids and they know what this business costs. We know we can't do everything. I have an older child and can discuss the things she wants to do and we make a decision together. A few times she has asked to take classes we can't afford and she has offered to pay for them herself. We have allowed this twice. But we keep a careful record of our conversation and the costs. We realize that even a mature child may not fully understand money and we want to be able to provide records when she is an adult.

The one thing I know other parents have deducted are union dues. They are a lot of money and without paying them, at a certain point the kid can't work. I am not sure if this is okay, but it makes sense to me.

of course not. we've covered all expenses related to his interest in the theatre. just like i do for my other ds and his athletic pursuits. i was just trying to clarify some info.

i had read somewhere about tax deductibility of some of those and even about reimbursement (for the really big ones - like union dues for example). just trying to figure it all out. thanks for your reply - you have good info and great insight.

This is a business, and should be treated as one. So yes they may pay all their own expenses that has to do with acting. (just not yours!!) All of my childrens expenses come from their accounts (including union dues, new headshots and transportation). It is different than sports in that they are earning their own money. As for taxes, check with your accountant an individidual does not have to pay if they earn under ( I think the number is) 6000 they can have their taxes reimbursed in their tax return. You can deduct transportation costs involved in auditions (plane,bus) this is looked at as job searching costs. You can also deduct union costs.
Some coogan acounts have great interest rates (aftra sag) the reason you don't not want to put all the money in there is because colleges look at what the child has while deciding on grants (even though they cannot touch it)

Every family has to make their own decisions about finances. It is my opinion that parents should foot most of the bill. The fact that the kid is earning money should not be a factor. My other kids may someday be professional athletes. Do I keep a running tally of the expenses to be reimbursed later? My other kids work at regular jobs. Should I charge them for a ride to work? My other kids do not contribute to their college funds, should the actor kid have to?

There are going to be lots of different opinions about this, but i think that by using common sense and making sure the kid is protected, we will all make the best decisions for our family.

Colleges look at all of the kid's money, even stocks and bonds, so it does not matter where you park it. Spreading it out in more than one account is the best protection for long-term gains.

Notblond is right, this is a family decision. For us, if any of our kids child earn money at an activity, yes, that child would pay the expenses. Most activities don't offer the opportunity for payment. For us, fair isn't always equal and equal isn't always fair.

Wow. Such an important conversation to have. If your child doesn't keep 100% of their earnings, record keeping must be important, so in later years, if your child says: "what happened to that money?", you have a good answer. So many things one could say on this topic...

First of all, yes, this is a personnel matter. Many children periodically fly to LA for CB's which are not paid for by production. Even commuting 4-5 days a week locally (NY or LA) to auditions can get expensive. Most people I've spoken to privately whose children have been steadily working in the biz will have the actor pay their own expenses. Unless they pay it they cannot deduct it. It's nice when you get to the point where they need the deductions. Again this is a personnal decision that each family must decide on their own when get to that level of auditions.