Can Maaser Kesafim Be Set Aside for Children’s Savings?

Hello, 

The view of the poskim is that one should not set aside maaser money for a savings fund for children who are still minors, so that when the time comes it will be possible to marry them off, apart from children’s allowance money, which may be deposited toward the future purchase of an apartment for the children when they grow up - and there is no need to separate maaser from these allowances. However, when the girls reach the age of 17 and the boys reach the age of 18, it is permitted to place maaser money into a savings fund for their marriage. And there are those who are lenient to set aside maaser money for a savings plan for the children already from the age of 11 (see Sefer Bein Adam Lechaveiro, chapter 12, sections 44-45, and the notes there). And the view of Harav Ovadia Yosef zt"l is that the father may, a few years before the wedding, save most of the maaser money and designate it in a bank account for his children; however, it is not proper to do so with the entire amount of maaser, but only with most of it (Yalkut Yosef, Shuva Schmut, part 1, 2005 edition, chapter 1, section 30 and the note there). 

Blessings, Hillel Meirs