Open a child/minor account

Child/minor accounts are deposit accounts for your family members who are younger than 18 years of age. They are designed to teach children and youth about saving and money management, while limiting their access to the money in the account.

Yes. ‘Start Smart Custodial’ accounts are now known as Custodial accounts, and ‘Start Smart Youth’ accounts are now known as Youth accounts.

With a Youth account, the minor can access the money in the account. For security, anyone with access to the account needs to present a valid form of identification.

All US financial institutions, including credit unions, must comply with the reporting rules of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). To report the correct information, we need to know if a member and account holder pays taxes in the US. Form W-8BEN should be completed by members and account holders who are not US taxpayers. Form W-9 is for US taxpayers.

For Custodial accounts, the custodian needs to sign the applicable tax forms. For Youth accounts, either the minor or the adult joint account holder can sign.

When a minor becomes an adult, they can become a member of UNFCU: 

• Minors with Youth accounts may convert their Youth accounts to standard accounts at age 18. 
• With the custodian's consent, minors may convert their Custodial accounts to standard accounts at age 18. Minors with Custodial accounts may not convert their Custodial accounts to standard accounts on their own until age 21. 

When a minor reaches the required age, we will send them instructions on how to become a member of UNFCU. They can also close their account(s) if they prefer. The former minor will have 60 days to complete their membership application or close their child/minor account(s). After 60 days, their access to the account(s) will be frozen. We will remove this freeze as soon as they complete their membership application or close their child/minor account(s). 

The successor custodian takes over the management of the account on the minor’s behalf if the custodian passes away, resigns, becomes incapacitated, or is removed. The successor custodian must be eligible for UNFCU membership.

We already limit debit card transactions linked to Youth accounts. Purchases are limited to $140 per day, and ATM withdrawals are limited to $60.00 per day. These limits cannot be changed.

Minors with Youth accounts can manage their account using Digital Banking. This option is not available with a Custodial account.