What to do with child trust fund now we no longer live in the UK

fineman

Hi
  My daughter is 12 and we have a child trust fund set up under the Labour government scheme. We moved to Germany as a family last August and plan to stay here for the foreseeable future. The trust fund is still with Forester Financial and not performing well. I know people were advised to transfer to Junior ISAs - and I've seen it suggested that on maturity the trust fund can be transferred to a JISA even if the child is no longer UK resident. I'm just wondering what our options are right now? Could we transfer the fund to a UK resident grandparent and then move it somewhere better? Or do we just have to leave it where it is until maturity? 
Any thoughts or advice really appreciated!
Thanks

wiseonesomeofthetime

I have had a quick look on the internet (as have you possibly), however, cannot find a definitive answer that helps you.

What I have confirmed is:
"You must be over 16 to make an application for yourself or hold parental responsibility to make an application on behalf of a child. You can make a gift contribution to an existing Forester Life Junior ISA via our website."
Source: Forester Financial JISA

"Our Junior ISA is for children aged under 18 who live in the UK. (Children under 18 who live outside the UK can only hold a Junior ISA if they are a UK Crown servant, or married to or in a civil partnership with a UK Crown servant, or a dependant of a UK Crown servant.)
For children aged under 16, only their parent or legal guardian can open an account. Children aged 16 or 17 can open their own account, or their parent or legal guardian can open it for them."
Source: NS&I

xylophone

https://www.foresters.com/en-gb/products/childrens-savings/childrens-savings-hub/child-trust-fund-hub#gref


https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120405170739/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ChildBenefitandChildTrustFund/ChildTrustFund/WhentheChildTrustFundisupandrunning/DG_193638

https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/managing-the-account

The account belongs beneficially to the child and cannot be accessed until the child turns 18.

The child's parent is the "registered contact" - see above link.

It is possible to transfer a CTF to a JISA but this may be difficult now that you have moved abroad.

Now that the child is resident abroad, it may be necessary to check on the rules of that jurisdiction concerning tax.

fineman

Thanks for the replies.  I've now had the following clarification from Forester:

"The government rules do not permit a non UK resident to open a brand new Junior ISA, but they do permit an existing CTF to be transferred to a CTF or JISA or for an existing JISA to be transferred to a JISA. You would not apply for a new JISA and then transfer the CTF into it; instead, you would apply for a CTF to JISA transfer, and the JISA would only be opened when the CTF transfer funds were received by the JISA provider. Once the transfer was complete and the JISA was opened, you and friends and family would then be able to make additional one-off or regular payments to the JISA until your daughter reached the age of eighteen. For a Forester Life JISA, at eighteen, the JISA would roll over into an adult ISA and remain invested in a stocks and shares fund, but your daughter (or anyone else) would not be able to make additional payments into the adult ISA unless your daughter was a UK resident. Again though, the adult ISA could still be transferred to another adult ISA even if your daughter was not a UK resident."

So that seems pretty clear and better than I hoped - despite being non-UK resident we can transfer the CTF to a JISA, and continue to contribute to it - maybe this info helps someone else in a similar situation.