Long story short:
My dd17 (and ds as well) was born with a genetic condition which impacts on her mobility and causes chronic pain. When she was born I did research into her condition and discovered that in adulthood there is limited NHS help but good options privately that can greatly improve quality of life and pain levels. Because of that I decided to put £100 per month of her DLA into her child trust fund so that the money would be there when she was adult.
Dd turns 18 soon and is due to receive the money into her account. I am on legacy benefits as ds 10 also has the condition but more complicated so needs a full time carer. I also get housing benefit and child tax credits. I did not intend another child so did not forsee myself on benefits, that will now be affected due to dd's savings. She is due to go to uni next year and will move out, but that means for 12 months she will have savings of £25k ish whilst living at home. I'm terrified that DWP will stop my benefits and make me use dd's money, which feels very unfair to her.
Does anyone know any way around this? I don't want to commit fraud obviously so I mean if there is a legal way that dd could invest this money so that it would not be classed as savings. She is looking into surgery which will cost £12k approx but that won't be until she has completely stopped growing at 21.