Child Trust Fund proposals offer hope to families of disabled children

The parents of as many as four in five disabled children currently unable to access their Child Trust Fund savings may no longer have to go to court to get access to the money after a way of avoiding the costly and time-consuming process was greenlit by savings providers.

A majority of Child Trust Fund providers have now agreed to proposals first published last December which would allow the parents and guardians of disabled children who have up to £5,000 in their accounts and no other savings to access the money by filling out a five page application form and getting a medical practitioner to fill out another one page document.

The announcement is a major piece of good news for the parents of thousands of disabled children who currently face the prospect of filling in 47 pages of forms, paying thousands of pounds and waiting up to a year for the Court of Protection to allow access to their child’s money.

The proposals from the Investing and Savings Alliance offer a major piece of good news to parents otherwise facing the prospect of having to go to court to access money

As many as 200,000 disabled children are currently locked out of their own Child Trust Funds as they do not have the mental capacity to manage money when they turn 18, while parents and guardians who have paid into the accounts cannot touch them either without applying to become a deputy.

The accounts were launched by then-Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2005 for children born from 2002 onwards. 

The first trust funds, which were subsequently scrapped in 2011, began to mature last September but severely disabled children are unable to touch that money.

The proposals from the Investing and Savings Alliance, which represents more than 200 financial firms, will allow parents to be able to apply to their trust fund provider rather than the courts to access the money.

‘A large proportion of CTF providers’ now supported the proposals, TISA said, with all savings and investing firms which had joined its working group looking at the problems agreeing to them.

TISA’s Nigel Banfield stressed the alternative process, which covers only trust funds and not other savings accounts, ‘should be the exception’ and said parents should consider the Court of Protection route first. 

But, he said, TISA’s proposals would cover 80 per cent of Child Trust Fund accounts as they had less than £5,000 in them.

The proposals ‘would take some pressure off courts by allowing them to focus on the higher value or more complicated applications that need to go through that process’, TISA said when it published them last December.

Mr Banfield added the alternative process set out by TISA ‘takes into account the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005’, amid concerns by the Government that these proposals may water down legislation designed to protect disabled children from financial abuse.

Providers had ‘wrestled with the trade-offs and risks of this process’, Mr Banfield told This is Money, which is why a limit of £5,000 had been proposed.

The news a majority of CTF providers have given the proposals a green light means parents no longer face a lottery as to whether they can benefit or not. 

The mutual OneFamily, which provides one in four CTFs, and the asset manager BMO previously announced they would try and help out hard-up parents, so they did not have to go to court.

Paul Bridgwater, head of investments at OneFamily, told This is Money the mutual had been able to help ‘some of our customers’ since September, although he did not specify how many. 

This is Money reported last November on how the parents of a 17-year-old boy from Worcestershire were able to access more than £2,000 in frozen funds through this alternative route.

However, trust fund providers are continuing to push ahead with these proposals without explicit approval from the Ministry of Justice and confirmation they completely comply with the Mental Capacity Act.

Nigel Banfield said in December that it was disappointing ‘the Government is currently unable to formally put its approval behind the industry proposal to help children with no capacity access their Child Trust Funds in a timely and cost-efficient manner’, but said neither BMO, OneFamily nor TISA had yet received any pushback over the proposals.

‘The Ministry of Justice appreciate what we’re doing and don’t say you can’t do it’, he told This is Money.

The Government last December said it would waive Court of Protection fees of £365 for the parents of children with more than £3,000 in their trust funds, an announcement which OneFamily’s Paul Bridgwater said ‘did not go far enough’.

The proposal would still leave families facing the time-consuming process of having to wade through complex legal paperwork and foot the bill for other costs including solicitors’ fees, which can cost thousands.

However, it announced at the time that it would also set up a working group involving officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Treasury to look at other ways of making the process easier for parents.

The Ministry of Justice said it was considering TISA’s proposals. A spokesperson said: ‘The Government wants to reduce the obstacles families face in supporting young people who lack mental capacity – including waiving fees to access these funds.

‘We continue to work with the judiciary and across government to improve this process further, making it more streamlined and accessible’.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

The parents of as many as four in five disabled children currently unable to access their Child Trust Fund savings may no longer have to go to court to get access to the money after a way of avoiding the costly and time-consuming process was greenlit by savings providers.

A majority of Child Trust Fund providers have now agreed to proposals first published last December which would allow the parents and guardians of disabled children who have up to £5,000 in their accounts and no other savings to access the money by filling out a five page application form and getting a medical practitioner to fill out another one page document.

The announcement is a major piece of good news for the parents of thousands of disabled children who currently face the prospect of filling in 47 pages of forms, paying thousands of pounds and waiting up to a year for the Court of Protection to allow access to their child’s money.

The proposals from the Investing and Savings Alliance offer a major piece of good news to parents otherwise facing the prospect of having to go to court to access money

As many as 200,000 disabled children are currently locked out of their own Child Trust Funds as they do not have the mental capacity to manage money when they turn 18, while parents and guardians who have paid into the accounts cannot touch them either without applying to become a deputy.

The accounts were launched by then-Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2005 for children born from 2002 onwards. 

The first trust funds, which were subsequently scrapped in 2011, began to mature last September but severely disabled children are unable to touch that money.

The proposals from the Investing and Savings Alliance, which represents more than 200 financial firms, will allow parents to be able to apply to their trust fund provider rather than the courts to access the money.

‘A large proportion of CTF providers’ now supported the proposals, TISA said, with all savings and investing firms which had joined its working group looking at the problems agreeing to them.

TISA’s Nigel Banfield stressed the alternative process, which covers only trust funds and not other savings accounts, ‘should be the exception’ and said parents should consider the Court of Protection route first. 

But, he said, TISA’s proposals would cover 80 per cent of Child Trust Fund accounts as they had less than £5,000 in them.

The proposals ‘would take some pressure off courts by allowing them to focus on the higher value or more complicated applications that need to go through that process’, TISA said when it published them last December.

Mr Banfield added the alternative process set out by TISA ‘takes into account the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005’, amid concerns by the Government that these proposals may water down legislation designed to protect disabled children from financial abuse.

Providers had ‘wrestled with the trade-offs and risks of this process’, Mr Banfield told This is Money, which is why a limit of £5,000 had been proposed.

The news a majority of CTF providers have given the proposals a green light means parents no longer face a lottery as to whether they can benefit or not. 

The mutual OneFamily, which provides one in four CTFs, and the asset manager BMO previously announced they would try and help out hard-up parents, so they did not have to go to court.

Paul Bridgwater, head of investments at OneFamily, told This is Money the mutual had been able to help ‘some of our customers’ since September, although he did not specify how many. 

This is Money reported last November on how the parents of a 17-year-old boy from Worcestershire were able to access more than £2,000 in frozen funds through this alternative route.

However, trust fund providers are continuing to push ahead with these proposals without explicit approval from the Ministry of Justice and confirmation they completely comply with the Mental Capacity Act.

Nigel Banfield said in December that it was disappointing ‘the Government is currently unable to formally put its approval behind the industry proposal to help children with no capacity access their Child Trust Funds in a timely and cost-efficient manner’, but said neither BMO, OneFamily nor TISA had yet received any pushback over the proposals.

‘The Ministry of Justice appreciate what we’re doing and don’t say you can’t do it’, he told This is Money.

The Government last December said it would waive Court of Protection fees of £365 for the parents of children with more than £3,000 in their trust funds, an announcement which OneFamily’s Paul Bridgwater said ‘did not go far enough’.

The proposal would still leave families facing the time-consuming process of having to wade through complex legal paperwork and foot the bill for other costs including solicitors’ fees, which can cost thousands.

However, it announced at the time that it would also set up a working group involving officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Treasury to look at other ways of making the process easier for parents.

The Ministry of Justice said it was considering TISA’s proposals. A spokesperson said: ‘The Government wants to reduce the obstacles families face in supporting young people who lack mental capacity – including waiving fees to access these funds.

‘We continue to work with the judiciary and across government to improve this process further, making it more streamlined and accessible’.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

The parents of as many as four in five disabled children currently unable to access their Child Trust Fund savings may no longer have to go to court to get access to the money after a way of avoiding the costly and time-consuming process was greenlit by savings providers.

A majority of Child Trust Fund providers have now agreed to proposals first published last December which would allow the parents and guardians of disabled children who have up to £5,000 in their accounts and no other savings to access the money by filling out a five page application form and getting a medical practitioner to fill out another one page document.

The announcement is a major piece of good news for the parents of thousands of disabled children who currently face the prospect of filling in 47 pages of forms, paying thousands of pounds and waiting up to a year for the Court of Protection to allow access to their child’s money.

The proposals from the Investing and Savings Alliance offer a major piece of good news to parents otherwise facing the prospect of having to go to court to access money

As many as 200,000 disabled children are currently locked out of their own Child Trust Funds as they do not have the mental capacity to manage money when they turn 18, while parents and guardians who have paid into the accounts cannot touch them either without applying to become a deputy.

The accounts were launched by then-Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2005 for children born from 2002 onwards. 

The first trust funds, which were subsequently scrapped in 2011, began to mature last September but severely disabled children are unable to touch that money.

The proposals from the Investing and Savings Alliance, which represents more than 200 financial firms, will allow parents to be able to apply to their trust fund provider rather than the courts to access the money.

‘A large proportion of CTF providers’ now supported the proposals, TISA said, with all savings and investing firms which had joined its working group looking at the problems agreeing to them.

TISA’s Nigel Banfield stressed the alternative process, which covers only trust funds and not other savings accounts, ‘should be the exception’ and said parents should consider the Court of Protection route first. 

But, he said, TISA’s proposals would cover 80 per cent of Child Trust Fund accounts as they had less than £5,000 in them.

The proposals ‘would take some pressure off courts by allowing them to focus on the higher value or more complicated applications that need to go through that process’, TISA said when it published them last December.

Mr Banfield added the alternative process set out by TISA ‘takes into account the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005’, amid concerns by the Government that these proposals may water down legislation designed to protect disabled children from financial abuse.

Providers had ‘wrestled with the trade-offs and risks of this process’, Mr Banfield told This is Money, which is why a limit of £5,000 had been proposed.

The news a majority of CTF providers have given the proposals a green light means parents no longer face a lottery as to whether they can benefit or not. 

The mutual OneFamily, which provides one in four CTFs, and the asset manager BMO previously announced they would try and help out hard-up parents, so they did not have to go to court.

Paul Bridgwater, head of investments at OneFamily, told This is Money the mutual had been able to help ‘some of our customers’ since September, although he did not specify how many. 

This is Money reported last November on how the parents of a 17-year-old boy from Worcestershire were able to access more than £2,000 in frozen funds through this alternative route.

However, trust fund providers are continuing to push ahead with these proposals without explicit approval from the Ministry of Justice and confirmation they completely comply with the Mental Capacity Act.

Nigel Banfield said in December that it was disappointing ‘the Government is currently unable to formally put its approval behind the industry proposal to help children with no capacity access their Child Trust Funds in a timely and cost-efficient manner’, but said neither BMO, OneFamily nor TISA had yet received any pushback over the proposals.

‘The Ministry of Justice appreciate what we’re doing and don’t say you can’t do it’, he told This is Money.

The Government last December said it would waive Court of Protection fees of £365 for the parents of children with more than £3,000 in their trust funds, an announcement which OneFamily’s Paul Bridgwater said ‘did not go far enough’.

The proposal would still leave families facing the time-consuming process of having to wade through complex legal paperwork and foot the bill for other costs including solicitors’ fees, which can cost thousands.

However, it announced at the time that it would also set up a working group involving officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Treasury to look at other ways of making the process easier for parents.

The Ministry of Justice said it was considering TISA’s proposals. A spokesperson said: ‘The Government wants to reduce the obstacles families face in supporting young people who lack mental capacity – including waiving fees to access these funds.

‘We continue to work with the judiciary and across government to improve this process further, making it more streamlined and accessible’.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk