Child Trust Fund flowchart

Next steps

Your child will not have a Child Trust Fund.

A Child Trust Fund is a long-term tax-free savings account for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011.

The Child Trust Fund scheme closed in 2011. You can apply for a Junior ISA instead.

It’s important to note that you may encounter the same challenges accessing a Junior ISA as accessing a Child Trust Fund.

Next steps

Your child can access their Child Trust Fund independently. If they don’t already know the provider, please visit the gov.uk web page Find a Child Trust Fund

Next steps

As your child gets older, you might have to decide whether they’re able to make decisions for themselves. If not, there may be legal steps you can take to make decisions on their behalf.

Read our advice about mental capacity and decision making

Next steps

As your child gets older, you might have to decide whether they’re able to make decisions for themselves. If not, there may be legal steps you can take to make decisions on their behalf.

Read our advice about mental capacity and decision making

Next steps

Please speak to the provider in the first instance: Child Trust Fund Providers

They might also wish to look into making a Lasting Power of Attorney at 18. Please note, only people over 18 can grant an LPA. However, you might wish to look into this before your young person’s 18th birthday.

If your young person can grant authority under an LPA they might be able to negotiate the release of funds with help from a parent or guardian through the finance firm. If your young person is likely to have other forms of money in the future, then having a LPA could be helpful for both the parent and the young person.

See our Facebook group for further advice and support

Next steps

Please speak to the provider in the first instance: Child Trust Fund Providers

They might also wish to look into making a Lasting Power of Attorney at 18. Please note, only people over 18 can grant an LPA. However, you might wish to look into this before your young person’s 18th birthday.

If your young person can grant authority under an LPA they might be able to negotiate the release of funds with help from a parent or guardian through the finance firm. If your young person is likely to have other forms of money in the future, then having a LPA could be helpful for both the parent and the young person.

See our Facebook group for further advice and support

Next steps

Speak to your Child Trust Fund Provider and ask them to release the funds using the Industry Process.

This is a scheme that uses the Appointee process to safely release funds. Not all providers use this process, and you are likely to need to escalate to your provider’s special support team (or equivalent). If the provider is not supportive, or if they say they don’t use the Industry Process, ask them to double check.

We are aware of many families being able to access funds past the age of 18 using the Industry process set up by One Family and other firms. See our Facebook group for more information or read about this family’s success

If they refuse, the current rule is that you will need to apply to the Court of Protection

Contact are campaigning to simplify this process for families, please join our Facebook group to get involved.

Next steps

Speak to your Child Trust Fund Provider and ask them to release the funds using the Industry Process.

This is a scheme that uses the Appointee process to safely release funds. Not all providers use this process, and you are likely to need to escalate to your provider’s special support team (or equivalent). If the provider is not supportive, or if they say they don’t use the Industry Process, ask them to double check.

We are aware of many families being able to access funds past the age of 18 using the Industry process set up by One Family and other firms. See our Facebook group for more information or read about this family’s success

If they refuse, the current rule is that you will need to apply to the Court of Protection

Contact are campaigning to simplify this process for families, please join our Facebook group to get involved.

Contact are campaigning to simplify this process for families, please join our Facebook group to get involved.

Next steps

As your child is under 18 years old, you, or the person nominated for the account, have full control over the account. It is important that you act now. Once your child turns 18 you will be unable to identify the provider or access / transfer funds on your child’s behalf.

Do you know the provider? View this gov.uk page to find out: Child Trust Fund Provider 

Ask the provider if they will release the savings using the Industry Process when young person turns 18. This is a scheme that uses the Appointee process to safely release funds. Not all providers use this process and you are likely to need to escalate to your provider’s special support team (or equivalent).

If the provider is not supportive, or if they say they don’t use the Industry Process, ask them to double check. If you don’t want to transfer to another provider, the current rule is that you need to apply to the Court of Protection at 18

See our Facebook group for further advice and support

Next steps

As your child is under 18 years old, you, or the person nominated for the account, have full control over the account. It is important that you act now. Once your child turns 18 you will be unable to identify the provider or access / transfer funds on your child’s behalf.

Do you know the provider? View this gov.uk page to find out: Child Trust Fund Provider 

Ask the provider if they will release the savings using the Industry Process when young person turns 18. This is a scheme that uses the Appointee process to safely release funds. Not all providers use this process and you are likely to need to escalate to your provider’s special support team (or equivalent).

If the provider is not supportive, or if they say they don’t use the Industry Process, ask them to double check. If you don’t want to transfer to another provider, the current rule is that you need to apply to the Court of Protection at 18

See our Facebook group for further advice and support

Next steps

You should begin this process by speaking to the provider. To find your provider please visit this page find a Child Trust Fund

Your child might be able to make a Lasting Power of Attorney when they turn 16. You can find out more on our Talking About Tomorrow Scotland page

We recommend that you start looking into this before your child’s 16th birthday.

You should also speak to the Access to Funds team to see how they can help

There are some important points to highlight if using the Access to Funds scheme:
1) You can only use the scheme to withdraw funds from Cash Child Trust Funds and not Stakehold Child Trust Funds
2) The fee for joining the Access to Funds scheme is waived if a parent carer just wants to use it to access a Child Trust Fund

If your child has a Stakeholder account, and they are not yet 16 years old, you can convert it into a cash Junior ISA; most firms managing Child Trust Funds should offer a cash Junior ISA and the funds just need to be transferred over. If your child has turned 16 and has a Stakeholder account, the parent carer loses control over the account and the Junior ISA is no longer valid; the Access to Funds scheme cannot be used.

See our Facebook group for further advice and support

Next steps

Your child might be able to make a Lasting Power of Attorney when they turn 18.

You can find out more here Power of Attorney Northern Ireland

We recommend that you start looking into this before your child’s 18th birthday.

You should begin this process by speaking to the provider. To find your provider – please visit this page find a Child Trust Fund

See our Facebook group for further advice and support

Next steps

Contact the Access to Funds team on 01324 677 140 or email [email protected] to discuss your individual circumstances.

You should begin this process by speaking to the provider. To find your provider please visit this page find a Child Trust Fund

We recommend that you start looking into this before your child’s 16th birthday.

You should also speak to the Access to Funds team to see how they can help.

There are some important points to highlight if using the Access to Funds scheme:
1) You can only use the scheme to withdraw funds from Cash Child Trust Funds and not Stakehold Child Trust Funds
2) The fee for joining the Access to Funds scheme is waived if a parent carer just wants to use it to access a Child Trust Fund

If your child has a Stakeholder account, and they are not yet 16 years old, you can convert it into a cash Junior ISA; most firms managing Child Trust Funds should offer a cash Junior ISA and the funds just need to be transferred over. If your child has turned 16 and has a Stakeholder account, the parent carer loses control over the account and the Junior ISA is no longer valid; the Access to Funds scheme cannot be used.

You should look into getting an intervention order, which  allows someone to make one-off or specific decisions or Guardianship.

See our Facebook group for further advice and support

Next steps

Speak to your provider to see if they will release funds. Mention the Industry Process and ask them to confirm if they are using it or not. If they say that they are not using it, please ask them to double check.

The Industry Process is a scheme that uses the Appointee process to safely release funds. Not all providers use this process and you are likely to need to escalate to your provider’s special support team (or equivalent).

You can also contact the Office of Care and Protection to discuss making a Controller Application.

See our Facebook group for further advice and support