Help! Son must not have access to child trust fund

[Comingup]

My son will be 18 soon and is addicted to weed, he is aggressive and abusive. Can anyone tell me what actually happens when18th birthday comes up? Do they write to the child? Can I stop it from maturing or whatever it does. I am really panicking as I have had a massive altercation with him where he admits spending a fortune every week on weed. I plan to ring the company but after tonight don't think I will sleep at the thought of him having any more money to harm himself with.

Ds had his £1000 very recently. The company wrote to him and it could only go into his own bank account

He has the right to make unwise decisions
www.braininjurygroup.co.uk/news/principles-mental-capacity-act/

Unless you caN show he lacks capacity

There's nothing you can do sadly. My dc dont have them for this very reason (my brother was a teenage drug addict).

If he doesn’t know about the money I would just intercept the post. You can probably see what the envelopes look like and what the return address is if you google it.

@HeartsAndClubs

It may not be an issue anyway. DN turned 18 recently and rang whatever line it is you have to talk to and was told all the funds closed 2 years ago and there is no way of accessing them any more.

I don’t know anyone else who has one, but I do know that he’s been told by the gov team that he won’t be given any money.

I am pretty sure that is not true. Who did she speak to?

@mayblossominapril

If he doesn’t know about the money I would just intercept the post. You can probably see what the envelopes look like and what the return address is if you google it.

Yes I would do this too, legal or not.

In order to assess capacity, the following two-stage test must have been followed:

Is there an impairment of or disturbance in the functioning of the person’s mind or brain?Is the impairment or disturbance sufficient that the person lacks the capacity to make that particular decision?

The second stage of the test (or functional test) dictates that the person is unable to make a decision if they cannot:

Understand information about the decision to be madeRetain that information in their mindUse or weigh-up the information as part of the decision processCommunicate their decision

www.braininjurygroup.co.uk/grouptalk/testing-capacity-brief-overview-two-stage-test/

My nephew got around £1000 right after his 18th birthday this year.

Firstly, I assume he doesn’t know about the money? My kids have junior ISAs but I sure as hell haven’t told them. Secondly, what 18 year old actually picks the mail up from the front door & looks at it? Certainly none that I know! So he won’t find out about it that way. If there’s a cheque or something, they have a validity - used to be two years so it doesn’t have to be cashed immediately.

@HeartsAndClubs

It may not be an issue anyway. DN turned 18 recently and rang whatever line it is you have to talk to and was told all the funds closed 2 years ago and there is no way of accessing them any more.

I don’t know anyone else who has one, but I do know that he’s been told by the gov team that he won’t be given any money.

That doesn't make any sense, it doesnt mature until they're 18. DS2's recently matured. They wrote to me to tell me I was no longer responsible for it and then to him to ask what he wanted to do with the maturing fund.

DS2 got about £1000 too. Has £250 really turned in to that much? I can't remember but I had assumed we (grandparents) had added to it.

My daughter was sent a letter by the building society it was with and withdrew the money last month. I don’t think there is anything you can do about it, other than intercepting his mail. If he doesn’t get it, they just put it in a savings account, so it’ll still be there for later.

I would attempt to intercept any letters. But bearing in mind all 18 year olds will be getting them, surely he will just ask at some point. Its a really tricky circumstance.

Have you thought about reporting him to the police? Or asking him to move out so he has less money for it? If he loves with you you have a lot more stake in the game as it affects you. If he doesnt live with you then theres nothing you can do.

My Ds1 blew his 5k in one term at Uni- weekends away with his gf, gambling etc.
DS 2 has saved his and barely touched a penny.
Ds 3 has been reasonably sensible - has spent a little.
My cousins son blew most of his on weed and drink.
I'm not sure there is much you can do, except offer to look after it for them if they will agree.
My DS who gambled a lot of his away then had a big win and we offered to save some for him which he agreed to.

@NichyNoo

Firstly, I assume he doesn’t know about the money? My kids have junior ISAs but I sure as hell haven’t told them. Secondly, what 18 year old actually picks the mail up from the front door & looks at it? Certainly none that I know! So he won’t find out about it that way. If there’s a cheque or something, they have a validity - used to be two years so it doesn’t have to be cashed immediately.

I used to work at a company that looks after JISAs. Once the young person turns 18, the parent loses their access to the account and the young person must set up their own account in order to access the money or transfer stocks etc.

We had a few adults on the phone trying to pretend to be children but we were told to be very vigilant for signs of this as it's obviously fraud.

We also had some angry parents shouting and upset with us as their child had spent all their money on clothes/holidays/their partner/drugs and they couldn't do anything about it.

Moral of the story is, if you don't want your teenager to access the cash, don't put it in a JISA (!)

Depending on how bad is drug use is, he may not actually have mental capacity.

Seek legal advice (outside of mumsnet).

My son's was with the Nationwide, they wrote to him shortly before his 18th birthday and he had to transfer it to another account.

And this is why I don’t save any money in my children’s names. If the government has given him cash and he blows it that’s a stupid waste of taxpayers money (and why I support them being scrapped) but if you have added to it I think you bear some responsibility here - did it never occur to you this might happen?

And no of course a bank can’t withhold money from an adult just because their Mum phones and says they’ll use it to buy drugs - imagine the potential for abuse of that power for a start. Plus he’s an adult and it belongs to him. You have as much say over it as you have over your next door neighbour’s cash.

And I cannot believe people are advocating hiding another adults post.

my ds has just over £3000 to come and he got an email

we went with Halifax.

not sure why a poster upthread says the government 'closed' them.....it was cash given to do what we wanted with, they have no say

This is why adding money to a child trust fund or having a junior ISA is such a bad idea. I always say this on here and get shouted down.

Sympathies, OP. Best you can do is try not to let him find out about it.

It is his money, he is free to use it as he wishes.

So sorry to hear this. It's not helpful for you right now, but for others saving, if you set up a proper trust fund (both for savings and in wills) it is possible to have them vest over a period of time e.g. 20% at 18, 20% at 25, 30% at 30, 30% at 35 or whatever fits best, to avoid them being all spent at 18 and also potentially to protect your child from losing it all due to a period of years with issues due to addiction, bad business decisions, broken marriage etc.

Don't rob him of his rock bottom. This may teach him something. Protecting him from the consequences of his actions won't.

I know it's hard. AdFam can help you. adfam.org.uk/

HeartsAndClubs if a child trust fund was opened then it will still be a live account somewhere. My children get annual statements and one, the building society closed so they were all transferred to another provider. You can fill in a form to find out which provider the child trust fund is with, and they write to the parent with the information