When to consider trust fund for kids rather than savings account

[MoneySuperMeerkat]

Just musing really. Is there a rule of thumb amount when it would be better for kids to have a trust fund rather than regular savings account? Does it depend on the child?

At present my DC are both under ten; they have circa £10k in savings each and smallish amounts being added each year - maybe £1k on a good year - so most likely to have in the order of £20k by 18 which is nice but hardly life changing.

However we have a couple of elderly relatives who just might leave them a gift (or maybe they will give the money to cats protection, who knows?) but I was thinking today: at what point would it be better to get a trust fund? In my head I don't think I would want them to have more than £50k at 18 or even 21 but is that too little to justify the costs of a trust? What are the costs?

Thanks for any info!

Junior ISA?

A colleague’s dcs were both left a substantial sum in trust until they were 25. Presumably the donor felt that by then they’d be sensible enough not to go and blow or fritter it away. As it turned out he was right - they both used the money to buy a property.

That’s the main advantage I can see in a trust. A normal savings or junior ISA account can usually be accessed at 18. Which is of course when it could be very useful for university costs, but OTOH nobody would be able to stop them blowing the lot on cars, clothes, holidays, etc.
IIRC the above trust cost quite a lot to wind up, though - the solicitors who’d been trustees dragged it out for ages and charged through the nose for what seemed a lot of unnecessary phone calls and emails.

We are putting money into junior ISAs for Gdcs who are still very little. Seems to us the best bet for the long-term.

What's the difference? We have one of those government child trust funds that was set up where the government donate£250 initially and then you add whatever you can afford each year. They can only access it when they turn 18.