Child Trust Fund (CTF)

Child Trust Funds are long term, tax-free savings accounts for children that were set up by the Government in 2005. Having a Child Trust Fund is good news, it means you have an investment waiting for you when you reach 18.

You will have a Child Trust Fund if you were born between 1st September 2002 and 2nd January 2011, unless you, your parents or guardians have transferred this into a Junior ISA.

The money is invested in a tax-efficient fund in your name until you turn 18 when you can take control of your investment and choose to continue investing, make a withdrawal or transfer to another ISA provider.

The Child Trust Fund is invested in the Personal Portfolio Balanced Fund that is managed by the experts at Coutts & Co. 

Child Trust Funds are held in various UK banks. You can find out where your Child Trust Fund is located through:

GOV.UK – Find a Child Trust Fund

To apply, here are the key things you will need:

• register and create a government gateway login
• your full name and address
• child’s full name and address
• child’s date of birth
• child’s national insurance number or unique reference number if known.

(Alternatively, you can post these details to HMRC if preferred).

The Share Foundation – Find Your Child Trust Fund

To apply, here are the key things you will need:

• child’s full name and address
• child’s date of birth
• national Insurance number if known/applicable.

We will write to you 20 days before your birthday with information about your investment and details of how to register for the online portal.

On your 18th Birthday we will move your investment from the Child Trust Fund into a Matured Child Trust Fund, keeping your money invested in the Personal Portfolio Balanced Fund until you choose what to do with your money and provide us with the required documents.

Once registered online, you will be able to make a choice about your money. You can choose to continue investing with us by moving the investment into an adult ISA, you can withdraw all or part of your investment into a UK current or savings account in your own name, or you can transfer to another ISA provider.

Whichever option you choose we will need to take you through some additional checks to verify your name and address.  We aim to take the required information from you online, however occasionally we will need to ask you to provide copies of documentation in the post to assist with this process.

If you are unsure about what identification documents you need to provide, please refer to our frequently asked questions below.

All documents provided online, or in the post, will be reviewed by our team.  Please be aware that if you choose to withdraw from your investment, these checks will need to be complete before we release payment to your bank account and this may take up to a few weeks in some cases.

If you decide to keep your money invested, this will be moved from the matured Child Trust Fund into an adult ISA within 24 hours following the receipt of your instruction.

You’ll need to have a UK current or savings account in your name if you choose to make a withdrawal, so be sure to get that sorted out in advance.

We can only take instructions from the account holder once you turn 18 and you'll need to confirm your identity when you tell us what you'd like to do with your money. 

You can choose to continue to invest with us in an Adult ISA, withdraw all or part of your money, or transfer to another ISA provider.

Please note it may take up to a few weeks in some cases from receipt of appropriate identification and withdrawal instruction for the payment to be made into your bank account. 

If you don't currently have a suitable account, you can set one up with most high street banks, building societies, credit unions or the post office.