My kids each received an inheritance from various deceased relatives over the years, which has gone into bank account for each of the kids. Ex and I are guardians on the accounts and the kids have access to the accounts via their own debit card. One of my kids (17yo boy) is living with my ex full time after getting kicked from my house for continuously lying and repeated physical violence. My ex has stated that she will charge our boy rent if he fails to maintain good grades, good behavior, etc. He hasn’t met her standards and she has taken money from his account each month for the past few months. Recently, she has required him to contribute to household “maintenance” (chores, etc) by a certain time each day, or else she orders delivery food for the family and charges the boy for it. He is also failing every single class after being mostly a straight-A student for years.

I want to protect his inheritance. Assuming that he will rapidly leave her house at the age of 18, I’d prefer that he have some sort of savings to start his life with. However, he despises me and will not listen to my advice. He is too stubborn to realize that he’s losing $250/week just because he’s not doing chores. I can understand my ex’s attempt to motivate our boy to succeed, but I feel that this is too much and is taking advantage of him. (Side note: she was like this in our relationship, too). Despite the issues between him and I, I still want him to succeed and be happy.

What should I do? Do I transfer the money into another account and reserve it for him?