<p>If the accounts are in the boys’ names with you as the custodian, then they are the boys’ assets. Minors cannot open bank or brokerage accounts and so will always need a custodian to be named. </p>
<p>If it’s a lot of money and is intended to help pay for qualified educational expenses anyway, then you can consider opening a student-owned 529 account for each of them and transferring the money there. The money will then be assessed at the parent rate of 5.6% rather than the student rate of 20% in the FAFSA formula (this is true for all parent- and student-owned 529s).</p>