Can Grandparents Open a Trump Account?

Short answer: yes. And you don't need to be your grandchild's legal guardian to do it — a common claim online gets this wrong.

What "no one higher on the list" actually means

You're representing, under penalty of perjury, that no legal guardian or parent is available to make the election. That doesn't require a court document proving it — but it does mean this option is really meant for situations where a parent or guardian genuinely isn't in the picture: raising a grandchild full-time, a parent who's passed away or is otherwise unavailable, and similar circumstances. If a parent or guardian is available and simply hasn't gotten around to it, they're the one who should file — not the grandparent.

One important limit: the $1,000 pilot contribution

This priority-order rule only applies if you're just opening the account, with no pilot contribution request. If you also want to request the $1,000, the rule changes: you have to be someone who expects to claim the child as your tax dependent that year. For most grandparents raising a grandchild full-time and claiming them on taxes, that's not a problem — but a grandparent who isn't the one claiming the child as a dependent can open the account, just not request the $1,000 alongside it.

What we built this for

Whether you're a parent, a grandparent, or another eligible filer, form4547assistant.com walks you through the same eligibility check and field-by-field worksheet — accurate to the actual IRS instructions, not to whatever's circulating online.