Thursday 22nd October 2020
As part of the Citizens Advice Exeter and The Express and Echo weekly advice column, this week we focus on Child Trust Funds.
I heard that people aged 18 might now be able to claim money from something called a Child Trust Fund. What is it and how do I know if I can claim?
Child Trust Funds were available to all children born in the UK (regardless of the nationality of the parents), whose parents were awarded Child Benefit between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011.
The first Child Trust Funds matured in September 2020, when the oldest account holders turned 18. The last Child Trust Funds will mature in 2029.
They are long-term tax-free children’s saving accounts set up by the government. They were designed to help make sure children arrived at adulthood with a savings account, were encouraged to save and understood why it is important to save.
You can find out where a Child Trust Fund (CTF) is held if you do not know the provider by filling in an online form available from HMRC. You’ll need a Government Gateway user ID and password. If you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you fill in the online form. HMRC will send you details of the Child Trust Fund provider by post within 3 weeks of receiving your request.
If you’re a parent looking for your child’s trust fund, you’ll need either:
- the child’s Unique Reference Number (you’ll find this on your annual CTF statement)
- their National Insurance number
If you’re looking for your own trust fund, you’ll need your National Insurance number.
All money earned on the Child Trust Fund is tax-free, including capital gains, interest payments and any other money earned on the account. This means all the money in the fund belongs to the account holder and none of it will be deducted.
On maturity, Child Trust Funds can either be cashed in or transferred into an adult ISA.
If you have a Child Trust Fund and do not inform your provider what you would like to do with the money in it when it matures, the money will then be held in a ‘protected account’ until you contact them.
Funds in a ‘protected account’ will still be tax-free, and any terms and conditions that applied to your Child Trust Fund before it matured will still apply.
Further information and advice visit: www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en
Watch out for our advice column next week when we focus on saving and budgeting.
The information contained in these articles does not constitute advice. Citizens Advice Exeter and The Express and Echo accept no liability for the information published. Citizens Advice Exeter is unable to respond to individual requests for advice through these columns. Copyright Citizens Advice. For the most up-to-date information, please visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk