Dealing accounts for children

An alternative way to invest for your children which gives you greater control over how and when you and your child can access the money is to set up a ‘bare trust’ dealing account. These are dealing accounts for the child with the parent or grandparent as the trustee.

Whilst these accounts do not benefit from the tax breaks of the Junior ISA or the tax relief of the Junior SIPP you can use the child’s annual income tax and capital gains tax allowances. Additionally these accounts do allow you to access the money while your child is still young, so you could use it to save for school fees, for example, to ensure they get the best education possible.

The account can stay open beyond the child's 18th birthday. You will still remain the account holder (unlike with a Junior ISA). However, because it's a bare trust, the child is legally able to ask you for the money.

Account benefits

Our Dealing accounts have no set up charges, you can manage your account easily online and there are a wide range of investments to choose from. If you are looking to save monthly, our regular investment service allows you to invest from £25 a month at just £1.50 a deal.

If you already have an account through AJ Bell Youinvest, you can link your child’s dealing account to it, which makes it easier to manage.

If you have more than one child you are saving for, then you need to open a bare trust dealing account for each child. There are no limits on how much you can put into a bare trust dealing account.

Setting up a bare trust for a child may not be suitable for everyone and if you unsure if this is right for you then you should seek tax advice from a suitably qualified tax adviser.

Getting started

You cannot open a dealing account for a child online, so you need to download the forms and send them into us.