Junior ISA rules let you save or invest up to £9,000 a year for a child under 18 in an account where all interest, dividends, and growth are free of UK tax, with the money locked away until the child’s 18th birthday. One adult, the registered contact, manages the account on the child’s behalf. For the 2026 to 2027 tax year the £9,000 limit is shared across a cash Junior ISA and a stocks and shares Junior ISA if the child holds both.1GOV.UK. Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA)
Who Can Have a Junior ISA
The child must be under 18 and resident in the UK. Children living abroad still qualify if they depend on a parent or guardian who is a Crown servant, such as someone in the armed forces or diplomatic service.1GOV.UK. Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA)
A child cannot hold a Junior ISA and a Child Trust Fund at the same time. If there is already a CTF in the child’s name, the registered contact has to arrange a transfer of that account into a Junior ISA through the new provider before the Junior ISA can operate.2GOV.UK. Child Trust Funds and Junior Individual Savings Account: Account Transfers
Cash or Stocks and Shares
There are two types. A cash Junior ISA behaves like a savings account and pays interest tax-free. A stocks and shares Junior ISA holds funds, shares, or bonds, with dividends and capital growth also outside the tax net.1GOV.UK. Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) A child may hold one of each, but the annual £9,000 cap covers both accounts combined.
Cash gives certainty and no risk to the original deposit, which tends to suit older children close to 18. Stocks and shares carry investment risk but have historically produced stronger long-run growth, which favours younger children with a longer horizon.
The £9,000 Limit and the Tax Shelter
Up to £9,000 can be paid into a child’s Junior ISA in the 2026 to 2027 tax year. The allowance resets on 6 April each year and cannot be carried forward.1GOV.UK. Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) Parents, grandparents, other relatives, and family friends can all contribute; what matters is the total, not the source.
Money paid in belongs to the child. It is an irrevocable gift, so no contributor can take it back before the child turns 18.3MoneyHelper. Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) Interest on cash Junior ISAs is free of income tax, and dividends and capital gains on stocks and shares Junior ISAs are free of both income tax and capital gains tax.4Low Incomes Tax Reform Group. Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) These reliefs apply no matter who put the money in.
Who the Registered Contact Is and What They Do
Every Junior ISA has one registered contact. That is the adult with authority to run the account: choosing investments, switching providers, and receiving all correspondence from the financial institution. Others can pay in, but only the registered contact decides how the money is managed.5GOV.UK. Manage the Registered Contact for a Junior ISA
For a child under 16, the registered contact must have parental responsibility.6Legislation.gov.uk. The Individual Savings Account Regulations 1998 – Regulation 2C Birth mothers have this automatically. Fathers have it automatically if they were married to or in a civil partnership with the mother at the time of birth, or if they jointly registered the birth. An unmarried father not on the birth certificate must apply separately for parental responsibility.7GOV.UK. Who Has Parental Responsibility Guardians, step-parents, or other relatives can act as registered contact if they hold parental responsibility through a court order, adoption order, or guardianship appointment, and the provider will ask for proof.5GOV.UK. Manage the Registered Contact for a Junior ISA
Changing the Registered Contact
Moving the role to a different adult normally needs the current registered contact’s consent. The provider can obtain that consent by any means it considers appropriate; there is no requirement for it to be in writing.5GOV.UK. Manage the Registered Contact for a Junior ISA
Consent is not needed in a few specific situations:
- The child has turned 16 and claims the role themselves.
- The existing registered contact has died or lost mental capacity.
- Nothing has been heard from the registered contact for at least 12 months and a posted item has come back unread.
- A court order has ended the existing registered contact’s parental responsibility, appointed a guardian or special guardian, or directly ordered their removal.
- The new registered contact has adopted the child.
Providers are advised not to disclose the identity of the existing registered contact to anyone trying to take the role over. This is where disputes between separated parents tend to stall: without consent, a court order, or one of the exceptions above, the current registered contact stays put.5GOV.UK. Manage the Registered Contact for a Junior ISA
Switching Providers
You can move a Junior ISA to a different provider at any time without losing its tax-free status. The registered contact fills in a transfer application at the new provider, which then contacts the old one to arrange the move. The old provider must complete the transfer within 30 calendar days, and it should not hold things up while waiting for dividends to land or investments to be re-registered.8GOV.UK. Transfer of a Child Trust Fund or Junior ISA if You’re an ISA Manager
The same route is used to bring a Child Trust Fund across into a Junior ISA. The registered contact starts the process at the Junior ISA provider, and the CTF provider is bound by the same 30-day window.
Getting the Money Out Before 18
Junior ISA funds are locked until the child’s 18th birthday. Two narrow exceptions allow earlier access.
If the child is diagnosed as terminally ill, meaning a condition expected to worsen with a life expectancy of no more than six months, the registered contact can apply to HMRC for permission to withdraw early using the terminal illness early access form. Once diagnosis is confirmed, the window for taking the money out depends on where the child lives: six months in England and Wales, twelve months in Northern Ireland, and no time limit in Scotland.9GOV.UK. Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA): If Your Child Is Terminally Ill or Dies
If the child dies, the money is paid to whoever inherits their estate, usually a parent, though it could be a spouse or civil partner if the child was over 16 and married. HMRC does not need to be contacted, but the provider does, so the account can be closed, and it may ask to see a death certificate.9GOV.UK. Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA): If Your Child Is Terminally Ill or Dies
Turning 16 and Turning 18
At 16 the child can claim the registered contact role themselves without anyone’s permission. Once they do, the role cannot be handed back to another adult unless the young person later loses mental capacity.5GOV.UK. Manage the Registered Contact for a Junior ISA They still cannot draw the money out; that has to wait until 18.
On the 18th birthday the Junior ISA converts automatically into an adult ISA with no paperwork required. From that point the account holder can withdraw as much as they wish, and anything left in the account keeps its tax-free wrapper.10GOV.UK. Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA): Manage an Account The adult ISA subscription limit for the 2026 to 2027 tax year is £20,000, so fresh contributions can go in up to that amount.