Was your child born between 2002 and 2010? Remember when the Government gave at least £250 to our children to open a Child Trust Fund account? Yeah, I had completely forgotten too - I couldn't even tell you where I opened them. As for how much is in them now, that's anyone's guess.
How it worked was that when your child was born between 2002 and 2010, most parents were given £250 to open the CTF account, and then another £250 on their seventh birthday. Those in low income families saw theirs doubled, meaning some will have as much as £1000 in their Child Trust Fund Account. The scheme was scrapped in 2010, so children who were born after that missed out, and those who hadn't hit their seventh birthday before then didn't get the extra £250.
There was the option to add your own money into it too, so if like me, you have forgotten all about this, then your child could have a nice amount of money sitting in their accounts.
Can't remember opening one at all? Doesn't matter, if you didn't open one for your child on time, then the Government did it.
Want to check if your child has one? Firstly, your child will have needed to be born between 1st September 2002 and 2nd January 2011 and you were eligible for Child Benefit.
Then, head over here*, where you can enter both your's and your child's details in order to request the Government to find your Child Trust Fund Accounts. It will take up to 30 days for them to get back to you.
Child Trust Funds can now be changed to a Junior ISA, you can read more about that here*. Please note that your child cannot access any funds in their Child Trust Fund Account or Junior ISA until they are 18.
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