Can a Bank Deduct Fees from a Coogan Blocked Trust Account?

Don't Let Bank Fees Deplete Your Child's Coogan Account, Image via Wikipedia

Understanding exactly what a Coogan blocked trust account is and how it works is no easy feat for a parent of a child actor or model.  Many  employees at banks are just about as clueless about Coogan accounts as you probably are, and some are even more so.

In fact, finding the information you need related to Coogan blocked trust accounts can be next to impossible. Some additional information about Coogan accounts can be found in “What Is a Coogan Account?” and “What Is a Coogan Blocked Trust Account?”

Not long after we opened my daughter’s Coogan blocked trust account, the financial institution hosting it was taken over by another financial institution. They assured me that the transfer of her account would be handled seamlessly.

Trustee’s Statement

I had to have a new trustee’s letter/statement of account (see “What Is a Coogan Account?” for details on the Trustee’s Letter/Statement)  prepared to show all the new information for her Coogan account. The representative wanted to charge me $5.00 since they had previously prepared a statement for me. I asked to speak to the supervisor and got the $5.00 charge waived since it was not my fault. So at this point, I would definitely not have called it seamless, even though everything seemed to be going okay.

Fees Being Deducted From a Coogan Account

When I received my daughter’s first quarterly statement after her Coogan account had been inherited by the new bank, I noticed that fees were being deducted from her account.  I certainly was not happy about the changes to her account that was supposed to remain the same after the transfer.

I proceeded to make phone calls to investigate what was going on with her account at this point.  Why were fees being withheld from her Coogan account?   After talking to three different bank representatives and spending over an hour on the phone, one of the representatives assured me that it was just set up incorrectly and that it would be fixed immediately.

But when her next statement came, I noticed fees were still being deducted each month from her account! I thought the idea of the account being a blocked trust was that no money, fees included, would be deducted from her account. It took another hour of phone calls and finally a visit to the bank to get this problem fixed.

So, “Can a Bank Deduct Fees from a Coogan Blocked Trust Account?”

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What Is a Coogan Blocked Trust Account? (Showbiz Term of the Day)

Coogan Blocked Trust Account Image via Wikipedia

What Is a Coogan Blocked Trust Account?

For those with children interested in the entertainment industry, it is very important to understand what a Coogan Blocked Trust Account is.

As soon as you get a California entertainment work permit (see “Do You Need an Entertainment Work Permit for Your Child Actor?“) for your child, you also need to open a Coogan Account (see “What is a Coogan Account?” for more details) for that same child.

When I was trying to open a Coogan account for my daughter, I was confused and frustrated. I did not even know how to spell Coogan. All I knew was the name Coogan account. I did not really know what it was.

Many of the bank representatives I talked to had never even heard of a Coogan account.  So I went and researched the topic so I had more information to use to communicate with the bank employees.

So, “What is a Coogan Blocked Trust Account?”

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Where is the California Entertainment Work Permit Office in Van Nuys?

The very first time I went to the California entertainment work permit office in Van Nuys, I remember wishing I had more information. I wished I knew what the building hosting the entertainment work permit office looked like and exactly where it was.

I also wished I knew where to park. And I wished I knew where to find the entertainment work permit office once I got to the building.

Entertainment Work Permit Office in Van Nuys

I take a journey to the entertainment work permit office about every 6 months to get my daughter’s work permit renewed. The last time I went, I decided to take a few pictures to share with visitors to my site.

Now, when you go to get your child a California work permit you’ll know exactly what the building looks like and where to go when you get there.

You can read all about who needs to get an entertainment work permit and how to get one in my previous posts on this topic (see “How Do You Get a Child Entertainment Work Permit in Southern California?,”  “How Do You Renew Your Child’s Entertainment Work Permit?, and “Do You Need an Entertainment Work Permit for Your Child Actor?” )

So, are you wondering exactly “Where Is the California Entertainment Work Permit Office in Van Nuys?”

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Homeschool Education vs Public School Education for Young Actors?

Since my daughter has always loved going to school, we never really considered the pros and cons of homeschool education vs public school education until a couple of years ago.

I have always been in awe of the moms who homeschooled their kids, but never really considered it a viable option for our family.

Right before we made the move to Burbank for acting, I discussed schooling with my daughter’s manager. He was emphatic about keeping her life as normal as possible. And in his mind, that meant keeping her in public school.

He recommended Burbank for its good schools and proximity to many studios.

While trying to find a place to live, I checked the ratings for elementary schools to try to find a good one. We rented an apartment that put her in a top-rated elementary school in Burbank Unified School District.

My daughter loved going to school there. And her second grade teacher was absolutely amazing. She thrived while in this class, and leaving early was never a problem.

While in the early grades in elementary school, the teachers did not seem to mind if I took her out early for an audition, or out of school for a job.  She was a good student and well-behaved, and it was easy enough for her to make up the work.

But as my daughter advanced in school, it became increasingly difficult to take her out of school for auditions, coaching, events, and jobs.  Some teachers complained when I picked her up even 5-15 minutes early!

And making up the missed work and projects became more difficult as she advanced from one grade to the next.

Some teachers are not flexible about homework in public school, and there is often a lot of it. This makes the whole job of acting extremely difficult for a young person.

But my daughter chooses to stay in public school. She does not want to leave her friends there. She is very involved in her school and loves the school activities. She looks forward to her 6th grade graduation  this year.

Staying in public school has resulted in some missed auditions, missed acting classes, and missed jobs, and in the last couple of years,we have had to de-emphasize her acting a little so she could focus on her studies.

But being involved in school activities and doing well in school are important to my daughter. And she wants to get into a good university.

As her parent, one of the most important things to me is my daughter’s happiness. As long as she continues to be happy and do well there, we will keep her in public school. We know she has the rest of her life to work on her acting.

So, what is the parent of a child actor to do?

Is homeschooling a good option? Read more »

How Do You Get a Child Entertainment Work Permit in Southern California?

I just drove down to Van Nuys on Friday to get my daughter’s entertainment work permit renewed.  It was going to expire today, so I was running a little late.

Since I’d mailed her child work permit application to the office in Bakersfield for the last two renewals, it had been a while since I’d driven down to Van Nuys to get a work permit.

And it was the first time I’d driven down to the California work permit office since I’d learned about the recent changes to the child entertainment work permit process.

I was actually looking forward to the trip because I wanted to see for myself how the process for getting an entertainment work permit for minors had changed.

By the time I made a copy of the old work permit, got an envelope and stamp (in case I had to leave a self-addressed, stamped envelope), and stopped by my daughter’s school to pick up the completed work permit application form, it was already late morning.

I was annoyed with myself for procrastinating, especially since it was Friday which meant the traffic coming home might be heavy, especially if things did not go smoothly in the work permit office.

I had a great trip down to Van Nuys, arriving at the state government office building in record time. I was even lucky enough to find street parking near the entrance to the building.

I walked into the building, turned left, and right in front of me was the entertainment work permit office.

I walked right in and up to the counter. I presented the child work permit application and my daughter’s old permit and asked if I could get her new entertainment work permit over the counter.

The young woman behind the counter said, “Yes, if you don’t mind waiting about 15 minutes.“  She politely answered several other questions for me as well.

A parade of moms and dads came filing in right behind me, one with three young children in tow. Many had questions and issues to discuss, and many had multiple work permit applications.

One mom turned away, looking confused, and I asked her if she had a problem. She said she was from Texas, home-schooling her child, but the lady told her she needed an affadavit. But she had no idea what that was or how to get one.

I showed her the sign I noticed with information related to the affadavit form for homeschoolers. (See  “Do You Need an Entertainment Work Permit for Your Child Actor?” for more details related to the  California entertainment work permit policy, including information related to homeschoolers.)  The mom thanked me and wrote it down.

About 35 minutes after my arrival, my name was called, and the lady handed me a new California entertainment work permit.  I was back at my car with 14 minutes left of the 54 I’d put on the parking meter.

Not bad!

So, “How Do You Get an Entertainment Work Permit in Southern California?”

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What Is a Coogan Account?

Jackie Coogan Wikipedia

Shortly after our arrival in L.A., I was told I needed to set up a Coogan account  for my daughter.

I did not know what a Coogan account was, why I needed one for my daughter, how it would work, or what to look for when setting up this sort of account.

Since I knew so little about a Coogan account, when I called banks to inquire about it, I struggled to explain what I needed.

Our family was maintaining two households at that time, one in South Carolina and one in Burbank, and that was a big drain on our finances. So what was most important to me then was to minimize the up-front cost in setting up the account.

So, I asked only two questions. First, I asked:

• Do you have Coogan accounts?
  

And if the answer to that question was yes, I asked:

• How much money is required to open the account?

So I opened the account at the place requiring the smallest initial deposit, but was this the wisest choice?  This was important, but there were other things I should have thought about as well.

If your child is just getting started in showbiz, you may be wondering, “What is a Coogan account?” and “Why do I need a Coogan account for my young actor or model?”

Continue reading for answers to these questions and other information related to setting up a Coogan account. Read more »

Do You Need an Entertainment Work Permit for Your Child Actor?

One of the many tasks that I had to take care of shortly after we came to Los Angeles was getting an entertainment work permit (a.k.a. a work permit)  for my daughter.

I knew very little about this until my daughter booked her first student film. The director and producer told me she had to have a work permit before starting work.

I asked her talent manager about it, and he gave me a number to call in Van Nuys. I know I called over 50 times before someone finally answered (it is a very busy office).

The Entertainment Work Permit Application

They mailed me a work permit application with  instructions, and I got it two days later.

As soon as the work permit application arrived, I quickly filled it out, had it completed and approved at my daughter’s school, and gathered the documents required. I then drove to the work permit office in Van Nuys.

It sounds simple enough, but for me, driving to a new location in the L.A. area was always a challenge. I got directions and eventually managed to find the building, find parking, and find the work permit office.

Getting the Entertainment Work Permit

The person at the counter typed the work permit while I waited and handed it over the counter to me. I had three days to spare before filming started, so I was relieved.

Unfortunately, the process seemed to get worse each time we needed her work permit renewed. The lines got longer, and they started requiring a self-addressed, stamped envelope so it could be mailed to you.

Sometimes we were told it would be 2 or 3 weeks before we’d get it in the mail, especially in late January to mid-March (pilot season, when all the masses converge on the L.A. area).

Since the start date on the new permit is the date the renewal is actually completed in the work permit office and not the expiration date of the old permit, the dates gradually shifted, so we ended up renewing her work permit in February (long lines) and August (summer break).

In August, since school was not in session, we had to take a copy of her report card to get the work permit renewed (how easy was that!).  When the renewal arrived four days later, I noticed the expiration date of the permit was in three weeks.

I was so sure it was a mistake that I drove back down to Van Nuys to have it fixed, but I found out it was done that way intentionally.

So we had to get her work permit renewal again one week after school started, with the approval stamp from the school, even though school had been in session for only one week.

Since no one really knows how a child is doing after just one week in school, this process never made sense to me. Perhaps it is a way for them to verify that the child is indeed enrolled in school at the start of the school year.

I got so frustrated with the whole work permit process, that at some point I just started  mailing my daughter’s work permit applications to the office in Bakersfield to avoid the drive to Van Nuys and the delays.

So, problem solved. Or is it?

If you and your child are just starting a show business career, you may be wondering “Do  you need to get an entertainment work permit for your child?” And you are probably wondering how you go about getting that work permit.

Continue reading to find out more about the current process for getting an entertainment work permit.

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What Are Your Responsibilities as the Parent of a Child Actor?

Do you really know what your responsibilities as the parent of a child actor are?

Being the parent of a child actor is not an easy job.  It requires a huge amount of effort on the part of the parent or parents.  At times, it can be as time-consuming as a full-time job.

I talked about flexibility in my post Parents, Do You Have the Flexibility Needed for Your Child’s Acting Career? Because of needing flexibility, it is easiest if at least one parent of a young actor or model is either not employed, works from home, or has their own business.

The list of tasks that showbiz parents take on is a long one.  I will be discussing most of these tasks in more detail in other posts. The showbiz parents are responsible for: Read more »