CCM18290 - Child Benefit and Tax Credits: Child Trust Fund - Eligibility

A child is eligible for CTF if they are:

• born after 31 August 2002;
• resident in the UK; and
• the subject of a Child Benefit (ChB) award.

However, this may not be the case if ChB is awarded solely under either European Union legislation or an international agreement.

For example, where the child of an European Union (EU) national, working in the UK still lives in their country of origin, ChB would be awarded for that child, but they would not be eligible for a CTF account. However, if the child subsequently moved to live in the UK, they would be eligible for a CTF as long as the ChB award was continuous.

In the majority of cases the decision to award Child Benefit is the point at which a child also becomes eligible for a CTF account.

There are two exceptions to entitlement to Child Trust Fund (CTF) being dependent on an award of Child Benefit. (ChB)

• The first relates to children looked after by a Local Authority. Although ChB cannot be claimed for these children, special rules ensure they still have eligibility to CTF. Furthermore, these children will be entitled to a Government contribution equal to the total contribution paid to children in low-income families.
• The other exception concerns children who live in the United Kingdom (UK), but are not the subject of a UK ChB claim, due to either EU legislation or an international agreement. For example, a family living in Northern Ireland, where the one working parent is employed in the Republic of Ireland, with ChB payable under European Union Regulation 1408/71(Migrant Workers within EU). The children of these families will still be eligible to a CTF account.