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Everything below is set up for you by your own senior advisor.
Or Freephone 1800 808 808 and a senior advisor takes it from there.
Money set aside for a child or grandchild, invested for the long term and looked after by trustees until they are 18. A senior advisor sets it up with the gift rules working for you.
Two minutes online. Tell us who is giving and who it is for, and a senior advisor is in touch with the options.
Tax relief, contribution limits and the right plan differ between the three.
Stored securely, never sold. Used only to come back to you about your request.
A confirmation email is on its way to you, and a senior financial advisor is reviewing what you sent and will be in touch. Want to get ahead in the diary? Book your discovery call, or Freephone 1800 808 808.
A bare trust holds money or investments for a child who owns them outright. The only reason the child does not hold them directly is their age. The trustees, usually parents or grandparents, manage the investment until the child is 18.
For Capital Gains Tax, Revenue treats the child as absolutely entitled, so gains are worked out as if the child held the investment. When a parent buys an asset in their child's name, Revenue may presume it is a gift to the child.
A bare trust is final. The money cannot come back to you and you cannot change who benefits. At 18 the child can take it all, whether or not you think they are ready.
If keeping control matters more, there are other routes. You can save in your own name and set the money aside for them, or ask your solicitor about a discretionary trust. We set the options out side by side so you choose with the figures in front of you.
Thresholds from 7 October 2026: €420,000 for a child receiving from a parent (Group A) and €44,000 for a grandchild receiving from a grandparent (Group B).
| Tax | How it applies |
|---|---|
| Gift tax (CAT) | The money is a gift to the child. The €3,000 small gift exemption applies per giver each year, then the child's group threshold |
| Income tax | Income from money a living person settles on a child under 18 is taxed as that person's income |
| Capital Gains Tax | Gains are worked out as if the child held the investment |
| Life company funds | Gains are taxed under life assurance exit tax, which Budget 2027 cuts from 38% to 35% |
The small gift exemption and a bare trust work well together. Each parent and each grandparent can give the child €3,000 a year with no CAT and no effect on the child's lifetime threshold.
Two grandparents giving €3,000 each, every year from birth to 18, put €108,000 into the child's name before any growth. Paid into a regular investment inside a bare trust, that money works for the child for the long term.
The form on this page: who is giving, who it is for and roughly how much.
A bare trust, savings in your own name or a children's savings plan, in figures.
Put in writing with your solicitor, with the trustees named.
Funds matched to an 18 year horizon, providers compared.
Yearly gifts timed to each calendar year and the investment reviewed.
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Straight answers with the figures. If yours is not here, a senior advisor answers it in your review.
Usually the parents or grandparents giving the money. The trustees hold the investment for the child and manage it in the child's interest until they reach 18.
They are entitled to the money and can ask the trustees for all of it. That is the nature of a bare trust, so plan for it from the start.
Not always. A children's savings plan can be held in your own name for the child, which keeps control with you. A bare trust puts ownership with the child. Our children's savings plan page covers the other route.
Each grandparent can give €3,000 a year under the small gift exemption. Above that, gifts count against the grandchild's Group B threshold of €44,000 from 7 October 2026.
While the person who gave the money is alive, income from money they settle on a child under 18 is taxed as their income, not the child's. Investment policies with an Irish life company are taxed differently: gains are taxed under life assurance exit tax.
No. Once the money is in a bare trust it belongs to the child. If you may need it back, keep it in your own name.
Checked 7 October 2026.
Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up.
Warning: If you invest in this product you may lose some or all of the money you invest.
Warning: Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance.
Two minutes online, then a senior advisor is in touch with the options for your child or grandchild.