Savings and universal credit

[lotsofmumlove]

Hi there
ive some savings and they are for the children for when they get older .
I’ve worked really hard to put some asid and they are at the moment just in my savings account.
husband left and now realise these need to be in ISAs in the kids names so they can’t be classes as my savings . I’ve not yet claimed UC . I will need to do soon.
i don’t want to do anything I shouldn’t be doing to get into trouble … I was going to put them in their isas before making a UC claim… again I’ve heard mixed things about this. There is about £4000 each child . I have two .
anyone else been in this situation I could cry 😢

I think you can have up to £15000... certainly more than 8k.

What if you need the savings between now and when you pass them on? Just declare them it's not a big deal. Use TurnToUs benefit checker

If the money is the children's then ideally it needs to be in accounts that are in their name or at least clearly designated to them.

ISAs are about putting a 'wrapper' round investments for tax purposes; not much relevance as to who owns the money.

The DWP's guidance for its staff is pretty clear - para 1077:

Capital owned either legally or benefcially by a dependent child or qualifying young person is not to be included in the capital of the claimant.

Where there might be a problem is where you have sufficient money in savings, in your name, to affect how much UC you get. Then, at much the same time as you claim UC you suddenly move that cash into your kid's names. That might look as though you're depriving yourself of capital so as to increase benefit; at that point a DWP alarm might ring.