To ask you for everything you know about Child Trust Funds

[vincentseyes]

Hi there,

Posting in AIBU for traffic mostly.

Bit of backstory - I'm 17, 18 early next year. A year or so ago my parent mentioned that I had a Child Trust Fund though she didn't know how much was in it. I'm just wondering how it works, and how much (on average) money there is in it? (obviously unreasonable to ask anything specific, but there's a big difference between £50 and £5000 for my life, though of course I'd be grateful for either).

I'm also wondering if I need any kind of evidence / information. I'm no longer in contact with either of my parents, will that affect anything and do I need to get any information from them to access the money?
Can I look at any account balances before I turn 18, and will the pandemic have affected any of the money in there? Sorry if a stupid question, I'm just not especially knowledgeable on this area of finances.

Was also wondering if the fact that some of the money would go to a house deposit and if it were the majority of the deposit, would that make me less attractive in relation to getting a mortgage? I'm a full time student but I'm married to someone who works full time, and the house might end up in his name depending on my credit score.

If anyone has any info on CTFs, I'd be very grateful. Thank you!
x

It’s good you’re financially educating yourself - you are very young and being married means you could inadvertently put yourself into a difficult position for the future if you do t make sure you’re protected now.

I assume your parents didn’t approve of you marrying your DH and that’s part of why you’re non-contact? It’s quite common I suppose. Just be savvy about your independence despite being married - it’s easy to go from being a child at home under your parents roof and influence to being a dependent of your spouse. I don’t mean that judgementally, just it’s late teens-mid twenties when we grow up a lot and make mistakes living independently, and sometimes if you have someone else to shield you from that it’s hard to establish and develop our own opinions and identities.

Your parents - whatever their faults - saved you a good lump of money. Use it wisely and protect it for your future self. Read up and ask on anything you’re unsure of, get second opinions etc.

@cocomarine Yeah I don't think she'd lie about it, and she does donate quite a lot of her money to charity so she's not miserly with money (I guess I'm just making sure her guess-timation is within the right ballpark at least!). If I managed to get £20k that would be brilliant though. Does bring up other personal worries about whether or not to get back in contact but that's another issue.

I will look much more into property ownership, I agree that's important and shouldn't overlook it. "Escape fund" sounds like a good idea - I would argue that I know my husband (obviously, as anyone would) but I agree that I would probably want to secure some safe money even if I were 35 and knew him for 20 years for example.

@NoSquirrels I know that because I'm mentioning marriage and being no contact in the same thread the two seem interlinked, but I genuinely promise it wasn't a related issue. Parents were fine with the relationship and the marriage (in fact it was a while after the marriage that we went no contact), we had some other stuff going on that wasn't working out.

I agree with your point about not becoming a dependent (though it's sometimes difficult when you do have responsibilities to another person). I'm grateful for the lump of money, and I'll try and protect it.

Does everyone think I shouldn't put it into a house then? I figured it'd be financially better (as I might not be sinking £650 into rent every month) and I'd still have some claim to the house as I was the one to pay a chunk of the deposit. Though I'm willing to admit I may be chatting nonsense, so if so please let me know!

Does anyone know how I take control of the account, after turning16? All I'm seeing on the HSBC website is waiting until your 18th

Sorry - I was writing mine as you posted yours about NC not being related to your DH.

It’s not a bad idea to put it into a house deposit, if you’re settled where you are for 3+ years. But I think I’d be cautious and go for tenants in common if you’re providing a big chunk of the deposit. You need your name on the deeds. If you think you’ll want to live somewhere else within be a few years, renting might actually be better as you have more mobility.

@NoSquirrels No worries, I understand why the assumption is there - it's just not the case for my personal circumstances!

I'll look into tenants in common. Renting I guess makes more sense for the freedom but it's also £7800 per year towards someone else's mortgage. It would be good to be able to save up more money, pay off the mortgage on the first house while living there, flip it and then rent it out to someone else for some extra income in the longterm. I'd rather sacrifice a bit of choice when it comes to moving - plus I'll be in college / uni for the next 3/4 years depending on how this year goes, so there won't be much jetsetting around the country, coupled with the fact that my husband needs to live close to the city we're near now unless he asks for a transfer.

Do you know your NI number? This is the same number as your Trust fund number and I think you can search in the websites mentioned above using this number.
I only discovered this myself when we got my dd’s NI number when she turned 16 and it was the same number. It is a number with two letters then 6 numbers then 1 letter.
It will definitely be waiting for you. I invested £100 a month for my dad and it is about £25k now even though it dropped in value a fair bit in 2018-19

You can take control of it at 16 and withdraw the money at 18

@sashagabadon For clarification, by NI do you mean National Insurance Number? I've got that and I have a Unique Reference Number on this HSBC letter (though I have no idea if that's related in any way haha!)

Can I use the national insurance number to find my account, if so which website are you referencing to do this on? I've had a look on the HSBC website but they don't say anything about being 16 unfortunately (though I'll admit the format is often inconvenient so I may have missed it!) x

it's also £7800 per year towards someone else's mortgage

Yes... but most of what you pay in the first few years of a mortgage is interest anyway - you pay off the capital at a much slower rate. So a lot of that £7,800 won’t go directly to paying off your mortgage. A mortgage is basically renting off the bank - you’ll pay ‘rent’ in interest and add to ‘savings’ in equity slowly. Plus you’re liable for all maintenance and boring expensive stuff.

It’s great if you have a plan and understand the pros and cons. As I say, if you’re staying put for 3+ years it’s usually worth it, but any shorter and all the legal fees and moving costs don’t balance out at all.

www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/products-and-services/child-trust-fund/

www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/products-and-services/child-trust-fund/maturity/

I mean the gov website mentioned earlier in thread. Yes national insurance number is same number as that quoted on child trust fund paperwork. It is unique to you. It’s format is AB123546C so check if urn number is this format and if so that is the number you need

@NoSquirrels I get your point, I guess it's just kind of getting a foot in the door is all. Being a grown up is expensive! Not certain what the best move is, also compounded by the fact that we don't really have any adults for guidance.

Thank you, it really does help!

@dementedpixie Thank you! I wasn't looking in the "for the parent" part which was my mistake.

@sashagabadon Do I need any information on the account / my parents to access it or will my national insurance number and birth certificate be enough proof?
I've got my national insurance written down in my phone so at least I've got a handle on one tiny part! Haha

Do you have photo ID?

I am not sure exactly as haven’t had to find my dd’s account as had yearly updates but check the gov website in patricia’s comment up thread and it will tell you what else you need. Good luck, I hope it is a reasonable amount

@dementedpixie I've got a passport but I think that's it for photo ID. Would that be enough?

I've also looked at the form for changing the registered contact and unfortunately it needs my parent's signatures and consent which means I probably won't be able to get it. I may just have to wait until I'm 18

And agree with others- keep it for yourself!

Thank you @sashagabadon! I hope your daughter's is too! x

Never mind what I said about ** needing parental consent, there's a little section for doing it without consent. My close reading skills are appalling

Yes a passport is fine as photo ID. You could maybe ask HSBC if there is any way to get control of the account before age 18.

@dementedpixie I've been having a read on it, and it seems possible in theory but I'd need to get a certified copy of my passport and send it in the male. I'm not sure how / who I would ask to certify it for me. Is it smarter to just wait until I'm 18?

**mail, dear lord

When are you 18? You can’t get it till then anyway so leave it to grow some more until you are 18, then you can access it

@sashagabadon 18 in January, so not far off. I guess I'm just curious to know how much is in it, as it's good to have an idea so I can know what options I have re; saving, spending, investing etc.