MAM form

A folio opened for a minor is run by a guardian. That authority does not last forever. It ends automatically, without warning, the day the minor turns 18.

From that day, the guardian cannot touch the account. Not a redemption, not an SIP instalment, nothing. The folio simply freezes.

The way out is the MAM form — Minor Attaining Majority. The newly major investor completes a short checklist first, then submits the form with supporting papers, and only then does the folio unfreeze.

Before submitting the MAM form (Chapter 9, section 9.14.1), the investor must first:

• apply for a PAN card;
• complete the KYC process; and
• update the bank account status from minor to major, or open a fresh one, with a new chequebook.

Only then can the MAM form go to the AMC or RTA, along with: the completed form itself, a copy of the PAN card, KYC acknowledgement, a cancelled cheque or bank statement, signature attestation by the banker, a nomination form, and a fresh SIP/STP/SWP mandate if those instructions are to continue.

The signature of the applicant on the MAM form has to be attested by the parent or guardian already registered on the folio, or by a Notary or a Judicial Magistrate First Class.

Any standing instruction registered before the minor turned major — SIP, SWP, STP — stops running from the date of majority if the MAM documents have not reached the AMC by then. The account stays frozen for the guardian, and no new instruction from the erstwhile minor is processed, until the MAM form and documents are received.

Ananya turns 18 on 14 August. Her mutual fund folio, opened when she was 10, holds units worth Rs 3,40,000 and runs a Rs 2,000-a-month SIP.

Her mother, the registered guardian, does not realise the account freezes automatically. On 20 August she tries to redeem Rs 50,000 for Ananya's college fees — the request is rejected, and that month's SIP instalment also fails to debit, because the folio froze on 14 August.

Ananya applies for a PAN card and completes her own KYC. She opens a savings account in her own name and gets a fresh chequebook. She then submits the MAM form with a cancelled cheque, her PAN copy, KYC acknowledgement, a nomination form and a fresh SIP mandate, with her signature attested by her mother.

Once the AMC processes the MAM form, the folio unfreezes in Ananya's own name, her nomination is on record, and her SIP resumes from the next due date — but the instalments missed between 14 August and the date of processing are gone; they are not made up retroactively.

Chapter 9 (Investor Services), section 9.14.1 (Minor turned Major), sets out the freeze, the pre-conditions and the full MAM document checklist. Expect a question on what happens to standing instructions on the date of majority (they stop, they do not continue), and on the sequence — PAN and KYC come before the MAM form, not with it.

• The freeze is automatic, on the date of majority itself. No notice is sent in advance in the workbook's description, and the guardian's authority ends that day.
• PAN and KYC must be completed before the MAM form is submitted, not alongside it.
• Standing instructions do not survive the transition on their own. A fresh SIP/STP/SWP mandate is a document required for continuation, not an assumption.
• The MAM signature needs independent attestation — the registered guardian, a Notary, or a JMFC — not a self-attestation by the newly major investor alone.
• Missed instalments during the freeze are not backdated once the account reopens.