Child Trust Fund Advice?

[kmo0416]

I have just received a letter telling me which provider my Child Trust Fund is located with and their contact details. The letter says to contact them about further information regarding my trust fund. But, what exactly do I need to next beyond that? Will contacting the provider mean that they will give me the money straight away or tell me how much is it in or are there other things will likely happen first?

Assuming you are over 18, the money is yours to have. They will confirm the amount they hold and provide a figure for its maturity, There may be a few days delay in actually receiving the money after you have provided the correct information to confirm you are the beneficiary. If you are nearly 18, you can make plans as to either withdrawing after you turn 18 or reinvest.

Assuming you are 18 or about to turn 18 and have not had anyone make additional contributions, this sum will have as the maximum the government contributions for your age group (£250) plus any accrued interest less fund management fees. If you are older, it may contain the additional sum paid (from memory I think it was another £250) plus accrued interest less fund management fees.

If you are lucky enough to have had someone make additional contributions you might want to chat through with them their reasons for doing so. As an example, my DD’s CTF was worth £30k which was designed to pay for university tuition fees or a property deposit if she did not plan on going. We discussed how to manage the money (high rate interest account) once she was eligible for it. Don’t forget that someone may have made sacrifices to help build your fund from earned income and will want to you to consider using the money for intended purposes. I have seen a few kids fall out with parents over CTFs because a) parents don’t realise the money is available straight away to the young person at 18 with no restrictions b) kids sometimes go wild with an unexpected windfall and regret it later.

Hope that helps you a bit.