Child Trust Fund - I am lost

refluxer

elsanto said:

xylophone said:

https://www.gov.uk/junior-individual-savings-accounts
Your children cannot have both a CTF and a JISA.

This is not true. I have just called the Coventry and they told me I can open the JISAs as well as leaving the CTF accounts as they are

I'm not sure why they would say that. This is from https://www.gov.uk/junior-individual-savings-accounts ....

"You cannot have a Junior ISA as well as a Child Trust Fund. If you want to open a Junior ISA ask the provider to transfer the trust fund into it."

eskbanker

csgohan4 said:

elsanto said:

surreysaver said:

elsanto said:

pramsay13 said:

Who is the Child Trust Fund with?
It will probably be better opening a Junior ISA for the new money.
Once it is open it cannot be touched by others and they will gain control when they are older.
You cannot reduce a tax bill by gifting money to your children.

I do not know at the moment.
Don't they say you have to be at least 18 to open a Junior ISA? Can it be any age?

No. If you're going to make things up, perhaps it is better if you do not comment. The clue is in the name - JUNIOR ISA
You have to be under 18

Read my original post carefully: I am lost. I rad somewhere about the age of 18. 
If you have nothing positive to contribute, don't comment just to try and look smart.

Could you substantiate your claims then?  Where did you read it?

https://www.gov.uk/junior-individual-savings-accounts

pretty clear to me

Perhaps some confusion caused by imprecise terminology here?

"Don't they say you have to be at least 18 to open a Junior ISA?" - as above, they have to be opened for someone under 18 but there is no explicit guidance about the age of the person doing the opening, other than that those for under 16s have to be opened by a parent or guardian, while "Children aged 16 and 17 can open their own Junior ISA".

xylophone

This is not true. I have just called the Coventry and they told me I can open the JISAs as well as leaving the CTF accounts as they are

Suggest you refer Coventry to

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transfer-of-a-child-trust-fund-or-junior-isa-if-youre-an-isa-manager#:~:text=A CTF must be transferred,provider must close the account.

A CTF must be transferred in full and closed once the investments/cash have been passed to the JISA manager. Part transfers of CTF investments cannot be made. A child cannot have a CTF and a JISA so if a CTF is transferred the whole account must be transferred and the CTF provider must close the account. The CTF can be transferred to either a cash or a stocks and shares JISA.

ratechaser

And just to add that if you are also looking to reduce a hefty tax bill - paying additional money into your pension (assuming you have one and have the headroom to make further contributions) is generally considered a good option.

elsanto

xylophone said:

This is not true. I have just called the Coventry and they told me I can open the JISAs as well as leaving the CTF accounts as they are

Suggest you refer Coventry to

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transfer-of-a-child-trust-fund-or-junior-isa-if-youre-an-isa-manager#:~:text=A CTF must be transferred,provider must close the account.

A CTF must be transferred in full and closed once the investments/cash have been passed to the JISA manager. Part transfers of CTF investments cannot be made. A child cannot have a CTF and a JISA so if a CTF is transferred the whole account must be transferred and the CTF provider must close the account. The CTF can be transferred to either a cash or a stocks and shares JISA.

I specifically asked the advisor on the phone twice about this. She said I do not have to close or transfer the CTF funds.

eskbanker

elsanto said:

xylophone said:

This is not true. I have just called the Coventry and they told me I can open the JISAs as well as leaving the CTF accounts as they are

Suggest you refer Coventry to

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transfer-of-a-child-trust-fund-or-junior-isa-if-youre-an-isa-manager#:~:text=A CTF must be transferred,provider must close the account.

A CTF must be transferred in full and closed once the investments/cash have been passed to the JISA manager. Part transfers of CTF investments cannot be made. A child cannot have a CTF and a JISA so if a CTF is transferred the whole account must be transferred and the CTF provider must close the account. The CTF can be transferred to either a cash or a stocks and shares JISA.

I specifically asked the advisor on the phone twice about this. She said I do not have to close or transfer the CTF funds.

Hopefully you're not saying you're choosing to believe an undertrained, underpaid and underinformed customer service agent over the definitive answer published by the government....

Alexland

elsanto said:

I specifically asked the advisor on the phone twice about this. She said I do not have to close or transfer the CTF funds.

Doesn't matter how many times you asked - they gave you the same wrong information.

xylophone

Is this clear enough?
https://www.gov.uk/junior-individual-savings-accounts
You cannot have a Junior ISA as well as a Child Trust Fund. If you want to open a Junior ISA ask the provider to transfer the trust fund into it.

https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/consumer/help/savings/isas/junior-isa.html