Accessing Child Trust Funds: Get advice at our Facebook Live on 19 June

3 mins read

Tuesday 6 June 2023

Tags: Child Trust Fund

More than 80,000 disabled young people with learning disabilities in England and Wales are at risk of getting locked out of their own savings due to the complex process required to access Child Trust Fund (CTF) or Junior ISA accounts.

These young people lack the mental capacity to manage their savings when they turn 18, yet there isn’t an easy way for their parents to access the account on their behalf.

Instead, the government requires parent carers to make an application to the Court of Protection to access their CTF – which can be a complex, expensive and time-consuming process.

Join our Facebook Live on 19 June at 2pm

To help affected families, we’re hosting a special Facebook Live Q&A session on 19 June where parent carers can ask questions directly to CTF experts Philip Warford, managing director of Renaissance Legal, and Myra O’Neill, head of customer services at Foresters Financial.

The session will be led by Contact’s head of policy and campaigns Una Summerson, who will ask Philip and Myra for their advice on key issues including:

  • What CTFs are and how to find your provider
  • How the Mental Capacity Act affects access to CTF accounts
  • What parent carers can do if their child lacks mental capacity to manage their own money
  • How CTF providers can help families to access their locked accounts
  • What the Court of Protection is, when to contact them, and the timescales and fees involved
  • Differences between deputyship and Lasting Power of Attorney
  • Limitations of the DWP Appointee Scheme

Please note that Philip and Myra are unable to provide one-to-one legal advice during the session.

How to take part in the Q&A

To take part in the Q&A, simply head to the Facebook Live event page on Monday 19 June at 2pm. You don’t need a Facebook account to watch the livestream, but you must be logged in to ask questions or post any other comments.

We recommend confirming your attendance on the event page so that you can receive a notification reminder before the event starts.

If you are unable to attend, don’t worry: the livestream will be recorded and available to watch in our Facebook page. It will also be uploaded to Contact’s YouTube channel.

Support our Child Trust Fund campaign

As part of a parent-led campaign, we are calling on the government to increase the scope of the DWP Appointee Scheme to cover CTFs and Junior ISAs up to £5,000. This would bring England and Wales in line with Scotland, where young people can access their savings via an Access to Funds scheme.

We’re also urging ministers to immediately publish a detailed plan with timescales of how they propose to simplify the Court of Protection process for larger sums of money.

Please help us push for this change by emailing your MP using our template letter.