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.

Woooooo hoooooo!!!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Congratulations! What a lovely story ❤️

Jesus…more interested in keeping the UC than winning money, astounding!

Absolutely amazing news!! Congratulations 🥳 no financial advice tho

Is it the 30 year one?! 😵

Jesus - totally unable to read & comprehend the OPs posts - astounding!

Congrats OP, it must feel so surreal! In your shoes I’d be getting both financial advice re the benefits/savings issue and legal advice re the divorce ASAP. There’s a page here about finding a financial adviser: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/getting-financial-advice/

I would also speak to an independent mortgage broker (not just your bank’s)…lots of good info about this on the Money Saving Expert pages.

I really hope you can get away from the pink carpets ASAP!!

Huge congratulations 🥳

Don’t worry about spending it now. If you want to buy a property either go with the mortgage broker’s advice or approach mortgage provider. Try not to over stretch yourself in terms of mortgage payments.

You will be able to buy your children whatever they need as they grow up. No more worrying about those new school shoes, coat they’ve just grown out of etc.

I would contact whoever it is re Universal Credit and tell them ASAP.

You sound grounded. Enjoy the moment, and make the most of the opportunity. I hope this is the begininng of a good phase of your life.

Please ignore the twatty posters who seem to want to believe you're trying to keep your benefits rather than simply asking for advice on how to go about things legitimately. Jealous wankpuffins.

Massive congratulations

Not sure why the comment about losing your universal credit though.....it's not for people who get paid £10k a month tax free....

Also, start a savings account for DC, put regular amounts in. Doesn’t have to be a huge amount, and not sort of hiding it, just to build up a safety net for them.

Go see a mortgage advisor (many banks have free advisors ). They can advise how much your mortgage will be. Also, I’d want to put as big of a down payment down as possible, so the interest part of the mortgage is as low as possible.

I would stay away from shared ownership as you’ll still have to pay rent on the balance.

This is your opportunity to do something amazing.
Can you move to an area with slightly lower price houses?

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?

And yes. Potentially. Depending on the terms of your divorce.....Rather naive not get a divorce finalised. Part of the reason I have got mine done in less than a year just in case I ever won the lottery

why?

Get divorced asap (and I wouldn't tell him anything)
Cancel your UC claim for now
Save your first 3 months win and use it as a deposit, put most of the rest into paying off the mortgage throughout the year.
Once the year is up you can reclaim your UC again on your normal salary

Please don’t commit benefit fraud op as this idiot is suggesting. You could get into a lot of trouble.

Sorry for my stupid suggestion that would actually amount to fraud. Revealed my lack of understanding.

I was trying to figure out how OP could avoid losing all her benefits and living on the winnings until they are all gone, and then ending up back at square one on benefits again once the £120k has all gone.

There have been lots of good suggestions I think about paying a big chunk off a mortgage with some of the winnings to end up in a better position long term.

Sorry OP- I would never want you to get into trouble.

Don't buy a house whilst still married. He could come after it in the divorce

You need to get your divorce sorted. The bad news is that you will have to reveal this win to your husband. The good news is that, given you have been separated for 5 years, he is unlikely to get any of it.

congratulations !! xx of course im going to ask was it lucky dip? did you do online or shop?

You can't avoid losing your benefits, if the money is paid monthly (though it may be possible to have it paid in a lump sum)..

The point is that if she has all that money, and then re-claims the benefit once it is spent, will they say 'well where did that £120K go...' and claim shes deprived herself of assets in order to claim benefits.

However buying a property would not be deprivation of assets - in fact if she can get it paid in one lump sum and buy a property outright, she may not lose benefits at all (same as if she inherited a lump sum and used it for that).

But the goal is to just do things legit, above board, properly. Not swan about gifting all and sundry and then finding out a year down the line that she can't claim once she needs to again.

Can you live out of some of it? So I’d live out of 2k per month and save the other 8k for a year. That’s 96k so more than enough to buy a house with a very small mortgage, stay working obviously so you can get said mortgage.

And yes you’ll need a clean break order in your divorce. Get the ball rolling in that immediately or he can claim 50% of whatever you have. Best not breathe a word of the win to anyone.

I get where you're coming from but suspect that's basically close to fraudulent

She only gets the 10k for one year. It's not ongoing so won't be treated as income for a mortgage. She's worrying about how to live after that and if she used the winnings to buy a property whether uc would treat it as depriving herself of the money.

Come up north OP and buy a lovely house outright!

Congrats, over the moon for you - what a huge difference this will make to your life...enjoy it ☺️