Junior ISA FAQ

What is a Junior ISA?

A Junior ISA (JISA) is a tax-free savings account set up by a parent or guardian for a child below 18 years of age. Anyone can contribute to the account, but only the child can access the money – and only after they turn 18.

Note, that some providers have different rules. For example, we don't accept JISA applications for children who are over 16 years old.

The account holder pays no tax on dividends, interest or capital growth within the JISA wrapper. The child investment account is essentially an amended version of the adult ISA (more on that here), but with a lower limit on contributions and different restrictions on withdrawals.

In the 2025 to 2026 tax year, the current annual allowance for JISA contributions is £9,000.

What types of JISA are there?

There are two types of JISA:

• In a cash JISA, you do not pay tax on interest. Although cash is guaranteed not to fall in value, annual inflation will have an adverse impact on its value.
  
• In a stocks and shares JISA, you pay no tax on capital growth or dividends. Investments are riskier and may mean growth is greater than a cash product. However, unlike cash, the value of a stocks and shares JISA can go down, as well as up.

At J.P. Morgan Personal Investing, we offer a stocks and shares JISA.

Can a child have more than one JISA?

A child can have one cash JISA and one stocks and shares JISA.

We don’t offer cash JISAs. So you can only open one JISA pot with us, per child under 16.

What is the JISA limit?

As of the 2025/26 tax year, the annual tax allowance or limit for a JISA is £9,000. For any contributions over and above the limit, the excess is held in a pooled client money account in trust for the child until the next tax year and is then automatically allocated to the new tax year’s JISA. Note, the money cannot be returned to whoever contributes.

Your JISA allowance resets at the start of each tax year. The tax year ends on 5th April and your allowance, or any unused portion of it, doesn’t carry over to the next tax year. If you don’t want to lose it, use it.

Tax treatments depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.

Who can open a Junior ISA?

Unless you are a crown servant abroad, only a parent or legal guardian residing in the UK can open a JISA on behalf of their child.

The parent or guardian who opens the JISA is responsible for managing the account and is known as the ‘registered contact’. In all cases, the person who applies for the JISA will become the first registered contact. To open a JISA with us, the registered contact must contribute a minimum of £100.

Only the ‘registered contact’ can manage the account, and there can only be one registered contact at any given time. This person must be 18 years or over.

The registered contact is the only person who can:

• change the account, e.g. change from cash to stocks and shares or adjust risk levels
• change the account provider
• report changes of circumstances, e.g. change of address

With a J.P. Morgan Personal Investing Junior ISA, anyone, including parents, friends and family, can contribute on behalf of the child, provided total JISA contributions don't exceed the annual allowance.

Those who live outside of the UK can only become a registered contact if they are a crown servant (in the UK’s armed forces, diplomatic service or overseas civil service) and the child depends on them for care. Both criteria must apply.

The role of registered contact can be passed to another person with parental responsibility. However, registered contact status can usually only be given on agreement with the existing registered contact.

There are exceptions where the prior consent of the existing contact is not needed:

• If the registered contact dies, cannot be contacted or is incapacitated, the person who assumes parental responsibility for the child must apply to become the registered contact. To do so they must have a J.P. Morgan Personal Investing account. Note that the J.P. Morgan Personal Investing account doesn’t need to be funded
• If a Court order means the existing registered contact is no longer the person with parental responsibility for the child
• If a Court appoints a Guardian or a Special Guardian of the child
• If a Court orders that the existing registered contact ceases to be so
• If the new registered contact has adopted the child under an adoption order

Who owns the money in a JISA?

The money in a JISA belongs to the child in all but exceptional circumstances. Please see the HMRC website for more details.

Once the child becomes 18 years old the Junior ISA is converted into a normal stocks and shares ISA in their name.

Who can contribute to a JISA?

Anyone, including parents, friends and family, can contribute on behalf of the child, provided total contributions don't exceed the JISA limit.

Does contributing to a JISA impact your annual ISA allowance?

Any contributions to a JISA are not factored into your annual ISA allowance.

Can you transfer a JISA?

A registered contact may transfer either a JISA or Child Trust Fund (CTF) from another provider to J.P. Morgan Personal Investing. JISA transfers usually take two to four weeks.

What are the steps for transferring a JISA?

Already a client?
Transferring a JISA or CTF to us is easy:

• In the web dashboard, select ‘Transfer a JISA or CTF’ under ‘Transfers’ in the sidebar on the left-hand side of the page.  

• Select your provider from the list, complete the details and submit your request.

• Most providers offer electronic transfers, but if your current provider doesn’t, you’ll have the option of printing the pre-populated form which you can send to your provider.

• We’ll work with your current provider, who will process the transfer.

• Once the transfer has been processed and your money has been transferred, it will be invested on our next trading day.

New to us?
You can transfer a JISA or CTF during account setup: 

• During the process of opening your J.P. Morgan Personal Investing account, choose to transfer a JISA or CTF.

• Use the value of the JISA or CTF you are transferring as the starting contribution.

• At the payments stage, JISA transfer will be selected as your starting contribution, and we will ask for details of your existing JISA or CTF to process the transfer.

• We’ll work with your current provider, who will process the transfer.

• Once the transfer has been processed and your money has been transferred, it will be invested on our next trading day.

Please note, we do not support partial transfers in or out of a JISA.

If you transfer a cash JISA to us, you will stop receiving interest on the money during the transfer period. For stocks & shares JISAs, we instruct your current ISA provider to sell the investments and transfer the ISA as cash for us to invest. During a transfer of a stocks and shares JISA, your investments will be out of the market, but this is unlikely to be for more than a few days. This preserves your ISA's tax-efficient status.

When can the child access the money?

The child can access the money after they turn 18. Once the child becomes 18 years old the Junior ISA is converted into a normal stocks and shares ISA in their name.

Can you have a JISA and a Child Trust Fund?

You cannot have a JISA as well as a Child Trust Fund (CTF). If you want to open a JISA you must transfer the CTF in.

A Child Trust Fund is a long-term tax-free savings account for children. The CTF scheme is now closed, so you cannot apply for a new one. But people with existing CTFs can continue to contribute £9,000 a year into them.

What happens to a JISA if the child dies?

If your child is terminally ill, you can apply to HMRC to release the funds in the JISA.

If your child dies, any money in the JISA will be paid to whoever inherits their estate.

The information to be supplied is described in more detail by HMRC.