I just won the ruddy lottery. But …

[Lotteryinducedturmoil]

I just won the ruddy lottery 🤩
£10,000 per month for a year 🤩
But, I’m not sure if I can spend it!?
I have been desperately saving for a deposit to buy my first house for myself and my 3 young daughters for years so this is beyond bloody amazing.
I’m a lone parent & work full time on minimum wage. My wage only just covers my rent so I get Universal Credit to top up my earnings.
I can’t work out if I can use all of the money to put towards a house deposit. Would that be classed as deprivation of capital?
I have been googling my fingers to the bone and can’t find anything out other than I may be expected to live frugally on it for ever more.
My head is going around in circles and getting nowhere.
The first £10,000 monthly amount will take me over the threshold of the savings limit of £16,000 meaning that I won’t qualify for universal credit any longer.
Will I be able to get a mortgage with just my (ever so slightly over) £1,000 a month wages?
I had spoken to a mortgage broker recently and they said I’d be able to get a small mortgage for a shared ownership property with my current wage plus UC benefits/ child benefit etc.
Does anyone have a clue how it all works?
I also have a complete twat of a husband who I have been separated from for 5 years but am still married to. Will he be able to get his nasty hands on any of it?
Any advice would be most helpful.

As you've been separated for 5 years, I don't see how a husband can claim any of it as it wasn't a joint marital asset like a home. Personally I would not tell him, but its a bit naughty

Why should the ex get anything????. She bought it with her money!.

Ask for a lump sum buy yourself a house and then get a job with no rent to pay you get your full wage and it will make your life a lot easier.

That’s fraud.

And congratulations.

If you currently owned a property and lived in it, then that would be disregarded from the capital rules.
I cannot find anything about what happens if you buy a property to live in, in which doing so you cause yourself to claim UC.
It does not feel right to do that, but does DWP see that as deprivation of capital?

You also have the issue of getting a mortgage. Would a lender provider a mortgage based on just your earned income? Even with a high deposit, you may not meet the income and affordability requirements for the mortgage.

I would use the income to stabilise your finances - pay off debt, pay into a pension, have an emergency fund (6 months of expenses). Have some in S&S ISA as long term investment but still accessible.

I would look at improving your job situation, training courses anything like that which could mean you get promotion, change job. As children get older, childcare needs change, so you may be able to work more hours. Then you may qualify for a mortgage based on your employment income.

Congratulations - very exciting news :)

Spend some money on legal advice. Get it ringfenced so your ex does not have a claim on it. You have come into the money after you have separated, so that should be taken in account when deciding to split the marital assets on divorce. Get legal guidance on it, so you can protect the money for you and your children.

@WiddlinDiddlin's post is my understanding. So you can buy a house but not a flashy sports car and no trip to Disneyland etc... The tricky part will be it arriving monthly for a year. I think you need to stop your claim and live off your income, and start a claim after you have bought your house.

I don't know what property is like where you are. £400k for a cheap house here. Be aware if you buy with a mortgage and then start a universal credit claim you don't get help towards mortgage costs so your claim will be a lot less than now if it currently includes rent.

Cancel your UC.
It can't be classified as deprivation of capital if you use it as a house deposit because you'll have invested it, as capital, in a house.

I would put 9k per month for the first 9 months into as high an interest savings account as you can and keep 1k per month to cover what you lose in UC plus any treats you might want to give DC. That would give you £81k. I'd use about 75k of that as a deposit on a home, and the other 6k towards moving costs, surveys, solicitors fees etc. Then you have another 30k coming in. Use about 10 to update and furnish the place and keep £20k for a disaster fund in case the boiler breaks or the roof leaks or you lose your job.

Or, if you don't need that much for a deposit, put 5k each into ISAs for your DC.

If once you have settled in to a new place you are still on low income you might be eligible for UC again once the year of 10ks is over.

It does not feel right to do that

I think it does feel right, although no idea whether UC would agree.

If OP spent the extra £120k on living expenses over the course of a few years, she would eventually be back where she started - claiming the £1k rent (plus any increases) once the winnings ran out, indefinitely.

If OP puts towards a house it might (purely as an example) leave her with a £500 monthly mortgage which will eventually be paid off. So OP would only need to claim the lesser amount £500 for a finite period.

Have you actually claimed it yet? In your position I’d be tempted to hide it somewhere safe for a couple of months while you work out what to do.

No you cannot do this, it’s pecuniary advantage by deception and is a criminal offence!

Sorry that was in reply to someone saying put it in someone else’s account!

Congratulations. Don't tell a soul. Give yourself a few weeks to work out what you want to do without anyone elses input.

Congratulations!

Might OP mean even with now a very healthy deposit in 12 months, with UC gone she will not earn enough for a mortgage? You need financial advice, good luck!

So if you cancel UC and take £1000 pcm from your lottery money that still gives you £108000 in savings at the end of a year. You can have £50k in premium bonds and any winnings are tax free, you can withdraw your money at any time, takes about to hit your bank account.
Get legal advise re ex but honestly, I’d keep it quiet from him, this will make a huge difference to your future fir you and your children.
Congratulations!!

Ah OP! I didn’t click on this thread because I thought it would be one of those annoying ones where they only won £3. I wasn’t expecting an actual win!

No advice but wanted to say congratulations!!!

Woo hoo! So happy for you OP.

We're up north and that would go a long way up here, could buy outright for 130k. But yes, financial advice and benefits advice from someone independent. What a brilliant thing to happen, very coo!l 😎

Congratulations!!!!!

This is amazing news!! Congratulations.

I hope you'll be very happy in your new house.

This makes sense.

Have you ever owned a house before? If not, and you are under 40 might be worth looking at putting some into a LISA.

If you put in 4k the government will put in 1k and you’ll get interest on top. As long as you buy your first house at least 12months after you open the LISA you won’t be charged for withdrawing the money.

All of this does depend on what sort of price houses are in your area though. Is 120k near enough to getting you the size of property you need or will you still need a large mortgage on top?

Congratulations! This may be helpful Re:ex:

https://www.bdbpitmans.com/insights/what-happens-if-i-win-the-lottery-whilst-separating/#:~:text=Unmarried%20couples,solely%20entitled%20to%20the%20windfall.

Was going to say the same thing myself. Absolutely not on to encourage fraud especially as OP would be the one living with consequences