Keeping sons money

If you believe this is your son’s money, it needs to be in his name or you are at risk of committing benefit fraud. Yes it may affect means tested benefits, but that’s exactly what they are. MEANS tested- if you don’t ‘need’ it you shouldn’t get it.

Exactly. The threshold is set there for a reason and if he has more funds than that, he can live off them until his savings come down to that threshold. You wanting more money for him as a buffer is an understandable protective thing for a parent to feel for their child, but you can't fiddle things so he gets a big savings buffer plus all the benefits coming in when he's not entitled to both. Saying you've not claimed carers like it's some justification that the system owes you is a red herring. The rules are clear and it's best to be clear about where his money is used and saved and then you/he can't get in any pickles.

@Kitesinthesky

I know this. I worded it badly ok

@colouredball

You can have a first class degree and professional job as a disabled person and still need help with finances… especially if adhd/autistic or with specific difficulties such as dyslexia or dyscalculia.

It’s fine if it’s appropriate to give it a go. OP has stated that it isn’t for her son, I would take her word on that.

Work does not always equal competence in handling finances for a disabled person. It’s taken on an individual basis.

Why are you trying to cheat the system?
Your OP is written in a very gentle, sympathetic, cheery manner but what you're ultimately doing is fraudulently keeping your son's benefits, which are designed to help him with his disability, in an account in your own name. Whatever your positive intentions, for all intents and purposes you have stolen his money. And you are doing this so your family can defraud the benefits system further, by pretending you don't have 16k+ stashed away so he can claim UC as well. The benefits agency do have the authority to check bank accounts of benefits claimants now and if this is found out you can expect to be taken to court. This is pretty serious stuff and your claiming to be a nice lady won't make any difference to the actual facts which will absolutely be used against you.

Just put it into your will that upon the event of your death you wish for the funds from that account to go solely to your son before your assets are split.

Put the money in a pension pot for him. He’s allowed a pension on UC it doesn’t count

@Kitesinthesky

Right, you realise that lots of disabled people do work outwith that scenario though?

If OP son is able to work an ordinary job (sorry should have specified) then it is absolutely worth OP giving him a go at managing to learn finances

@MrsSlocombesCat

Fair enough… I was making the point that somebody can do fairly menial work be that outside the home or wfh on a laptop…. But be incapable of managing their finances.

Equally, people can do some work part time and still receive means tested/sickness benefits - see permitted work…

So all work is not equal and an indicator of intellectual ability or personal capacity.

have you got deputyship?

My son wouldn’t be able to do that. He’s acutely anxious whenever he is outside of the home. Even in the home if there are other people besides me and him here. He gets ESA now but we had a horrible time trying to get him a job. He ended up having a breakdown and confessing that he had tried to pretend to be normal all through school and college and couldn’t take it anymore. He said he wanted to die. So I was advised to apply for ESA for him.

I agree with this, there's usually a limit on how much money you can have in savings when you claim benefits, and if you're putting it in yours and then claiming more benefits surely that's fraudulent?
Sounds dodgy to me sorry

I am my Ds ‘s appointee .

The money is the same as Dla it is too pay for additional expenses .

i have spent my ds’s on things like tutors , repairs bro the house he has damaged , I will be using it to pay for driving lessons . Sensory clothing

Think how your dc could benefit from this money . I do see that as part of my responsibility as his apppointee .

You could charge him housekeeping for his share of the bills as he would be paying you if he was working but can't due to his disability. It would then be your money to save yourself.

@Piggybankme Then the money is yours.

In my experience and from what I have read it doesn’t do anyone with a disability any good to have a pile of money. It will just make life more complicated for him. Give him your bank card and PIN number before you die, or tell him where to find them if it’s sudden.

My brother lived with my mum until her death. She was a pensioner for thirty years and also had saving of her own. He had PIP and other benefits but was always unable to understand or handle money, so his benefits and PIP was paid into an account in their joint names so she could draw down on it when needed. She had no mortgage so he obviously didn't pay her rent and the balance on his account was usually about £10k. He did have a 'job' for a few years and earnt a little bit of money. This went into an account in his name and he used it to buy himself treats.

When mum died and my brother went into care there was still about £10k in his name that he had in his sole name then.

If a trust doesn’t work out you could write a will stating all the money in that account goes to that son and your remaining estate is divided among your children equally. I’m sure his siblings will understand if you explain where the money in that account came from.

@newyear2024 if mum is on the sick herself she can’t claim it as considered an overlapping benefit. And there are other benefits that are the same. Also need to be careful that the person on DLA/pip doesn’t lose part of their entitlement.

Still worth claiming, be told you are due nothing but have letter showing underlying entitlement.

@colouredball

There is a place near us where teens and adults with downs and learning disabilities work… they make bottles… they can work…

But there’s no way they could manage their own finances.

You aren’t being unreasonable, keep the money for him set aside, in fact what I would do is have the PIP put in an account in his name and then draw out cash and keep it for a bit before lodging in your own ISA….

As for if you die; have the amount in ISA left solely to him or specify an amount that you want left to him to cover additional needs, maybe to buy him a house.

Another thought is that as your son's appointee you have a duty to be able to show what the PIP has been spent on if asked by DWP ( I know that recent DLA awards have come with a letter to this effect)

It was paid to you to do with as you wish. It's in your bank account, it's your's.

This is incorrect.

It was paid to you to do with as you wish. It's in your bank account, it's your's. If you still can claim carers. Carers, disabled people and the poor in general are being fucked over by this government. The billionaires of this country don't hand wring over their non dom status, neither do the wealthy when they overpay their pensions to pay less tax, or those grabbing useless contracts. It's only the most vulnerable who should analyse every penny they try to keep, so they can eat and keep warm.

I think you should be spending the money on your son's extra care needs. PIP isn't for saving it's a benefit to pay towards the needs associated with his extra needs. ( well aware you've paid for these yourself so far)
If you have any money left over from your own salary and want to save for him I'd put a little aside each month in premium bonds in your name or buy something that he and the family could benefit from, a caravan on a nice site, a holiday each year etc.

I may be going against the grain here but I think you need to separate what is PIP money and what is yours as you are making this very complicated and also potentially very unfair on your other children.

If you are saying you have technically spent the equivalent of the PIP but out of your ‘family money’ then this is exactly what the savings are- family money. Therefore, how you choose to leave money in your will is your choice but I’d recommend discussing this with other children if you intend to leave more for one child (albeit with good reason). It could cause very bad feeling towards their sibling when you are not around to realise they’ve technically had far more of the family money spent on them during your life due to their needs (which in whatever eventuality will have impacted on them) then again are being left more inheritance than them. It could lead to your most vulnerable child being isolated and they’re most likely to need their siblings support.

If you believe this is your son’s money, it needs to be in his name or you are at risk of committing benefit fraud. Yes it may affect means tested benefits, but that’s exactly what they are. MEANS tested- if you don’t ‘need’ it you shouldn’t get it.