California Coogan Law: 15% Trust Deposits, Permits, and Payout at 18

The California Coogan Law requires employers of child performers to deposit 15% of the minor’s gross earnings into a blocked trust account that the child cannot access until age 18. Codified primarily in California Family Code Section 6750 and related provisions, it covers traditional actors along with young musicians, athletes, voice-over artists, and, since 2024, children featured in monetized social media content. The money belongs to the child as separate property. Parents, guardians, and trustees cannot spend it.

Who the Law Covers

Family Code Section 6750 applies to any contract in which an unemancipated minor provides creative or artistic services — acting, dancing, singing, stunt work, voice-over, songwriting, directing — and to minors who participate as players in a sport or who license their name, likeness, or voice recording for entertainment use.¹

As of 2024, the statute explicitly includes “content creators,” defined as individuals who create or share digital content on an online platform under a direct contractual relationship with third parties. That reaches vloggers, podcasters, influencers, and streamers.¹

One boundary worth noting: extras, background performers, and those working in similar capacities are excluded from the 15% trust set-aside requirement, though other child labor protections still apply.²

Setting Up the Trust Account

A parent or legal guardian must open a Coogan Trust Account within seven business days after the minor’s entertainment contract is signed by all parties. The account has to be held at a California-based bank, savings and loan, credit union, brokerage firm, or company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the institution must carry federal insurance through the FDIC, SIPC, or NCUSIF at all times.³

Within 10 business days of the contract signing, the trustee must prepare a written statement under penalty of perjury. It lists the financial institution’s name, address, and phone number; the account name and number; the minor beneficiary’s name; and the trustee’s name. A photocopy of documentation from the institution confirming the account was created — an account agreement or passbook — must be attached.³

Match the names across every document. The child’s name on the trust account needs to match the name on their work permit and entertainment contract exactly, or production payroll will reject the deposit. Bring the child’s Social Security number for tax reporting, a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate, and, for guardians, a certified copy of the court order establishing guardianship.²

The 15% Deposit and How Employers Handle It

The employer sets aside exactly 15% of the minor’s gross earnings under the contract and deposits those funds into the Coogan Trust Account. “Gross” means before any deductions — agent commissions, manager fees, taxes, or other withholdings all come out of the remaining 85%, which goes to the parent or guardian to cover taxes and the child’s support.²

The 15% is the minor’s own separate property. No one in the family can draw on it for household expenses, debt, or anything else.

Once the employer receives the trustee’s statement, the minor’s certified birth certificate, and any guardian documentation, it has 15 business days to deposit the 15% into the trust. The clock runs from receipt of those documents, not from the start of employment.²

There is a backstop for paperwork that never arrives. If a parent, guardian, or trustee fails to provide the employer with the trustee’s statement within 180 days after the child starts working, the employer must forward the 15% to The Actors’ Fund of America, which then becomes trustee of those earnings. The employer’s obligation ends there.²

The Work Permit Connection

The trust account isn’t only a financial requirement. Under California Labor Code Section 1308.9, when the Labor Commissioner issues written consent for a minor to work under an entertainment contract, that consent becomes void after 10 business days unless a copy of the trustee’s statement proving a Coogan Trust Account exists is attached. Once attached, the work permit remains valid for six months.⁴

Delay opening the account and the child’s employment itself becomes unauthorized. The production company can face liability, and the child can lose the job.

How Trust Funds Can Be Invested

The money doesn’t have to sit idle. Family Code Section 6753 permits the trustee to invest in several low-risk categories:

Broad-based index funds or diversified equity funds registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, investing across a domestic or foreign regional economy (not a single sector), with at least $250 million in assets under management.
U.S. government bonds, certificates of deposit, money market instruments, and money market accounts.
Mutual funds that invest solely in the government securities and instruments listed above.

Every investment must mature on or before the minor’s 18th birthday. Proceeds have to be redeposited into the trust account or used to buy additional qualifying investments, and the investments must be available through the institution where the trust is held.⁵

Children in Family Social Media Content

California extended Coogan-style protections to children featured in family social media content through SB 764 (2024) and Family Code Sections 6651 through 6653. These rules target situations the original law wasn’t designed for: a parent monetizing a child’s appearances in vlogs and online posts without any traditional employer involved.

A minor is considered engaged in the work of vlogging when three conditions are met in a given month: at least 30% of the parent’s compensated video or image content features the child, those posts meet the platform’s compensation threshold or earn at least $0.10 per view, and the parent earns at least $1,250 from that content during the month.⁶

Once those thresholds are triggered, the vlogger-parent must establish a trust account within seven business days. The set-aside isn’t a flat 15%. The parent deposits a share of gross earnings proportional to the child’s actual appearance time in the compensated content, and when multiple children appear in the same content, that percentage is split equally among them.⁷

Record-keeping is substantial. Vlogger-parents must give each featured child monthly records showing the number of compensated posts, total minutes of content, minutes featuring the child, total compensation earned, and the amount deposited into the trust. A knowing violation lets the minor sue for actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.⁷

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Employers who violate California’s child entertainment labor laws, including the trust deposit rules, face criminal penalties under Labor Code Section 1303. A standard violation is a misdemeanor carrying a fine between $1,000 and $5,000, up to six months in county jail, or both. A willful violation raises the maximum fine to $10,000, with the same potential jail time.⁸

Employing a minor whose work permit has gone void for lack of a Coogan account is itself a misdemeanor, and failure to produce the Labor Commissioner’s written consent is treated as prima facie evidence of illegal employment.⁹ Most production companies will not let a minor on set without verified trust account documentation.

Getting the Money at 18

Nobody can withdraw money from a Coogan Trust Account before the beneficiary turns 18 without a written order from a superior court. The court keeps ongoing jurisdiction, and a parent, guardian, trustee, or the minor through a representative can petition to amend or terminate the trust by showing good cause. Early access is granted only in unusual circumstances.³

Once the beneficiary turns 18, the process is simple. The now-adult performer brings a certified copy of their birth certificate to the financial institution holding the trust. After verification, the blocked status is removed and the beneficiary gains full control of the balance.³

Taxes Still Apply

The Coogan Law protects a child’s earnings from their parents. It does not protect them from the IRS. A minor’s earned income from entertainment work is taxable, and the child, through a parent filing on their behalf, must report it. The 85% paid out for the child’s support is also technically the child’s income; the parent is custodian of it, not the earner.

Investment returns inside the trust — interest, dividends, and capital gains from the permitted investments — count as unearned income subject to the “kiddie tax.” For the 2026 tax year, the first $1,350 of a child’s unearned income is tax-free, the next $1,350 is taxed at the child’s own rate, and anything above $2,700 is taxed at the parents’ marginal rate. A performer with a substantial trust balance invested in index funds or government bonds can owe real tax on money they cannot touch. A tax professional experienced in entertainment income can keep estimated payments and filings on track.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6750
2
California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6752
3
Justia Law. California Code Family Code 6750-6753
4
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1308.9
5
California Legislative Information. SB 1162 Senate Bill – Chaptered
6
California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6651
7
LegiScan. California Senate Bill 764
8
Justia Law. California Labor Code 1285-1312 – Minors
9
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1308.5