Recommendation 12

To access the Child Trust Fund of a young person who lacks mental capacity, their family or carer must gain legal authority to do so by applying to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order if living in England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice estimates that between 63,000 and 126,000 young people may not have the mental capacity to access and manage their matured Child Trust Fund when they reach 18. However, the Court of Protection approved only 15 such applications during 2021. HMRC told us it understands that financial deputyship rules in Scotland and Northern Ireland are comparable to the rules in England and Wales. Similar issues are therefore likely to have arisen across the United Kingdom.17