UC move on monday

[Milkandcornflakes]

Hi guys,need a little advice,single parent of a 13year old ASD son,i havent worked in 5 years so an on legacy benefits,im under the threshold of 6k in my bank but i have 7k in his savings account ( not isa,as my son is profoundly autistic so will be unable to handle money matters later on) it has barely been touched apart from money for ipad repairs as he smashes them,will this be ok to still claim and how will it effect us?

Do you have your migration letter? If so call the citizens advice help to claim number on the back - they will walk you through it

It has to be in your sons name and for you to prove you have no access for it not to count as your capital rules are quite strict on it unfortunately

You need to spend the excess of £6,000.

Remember, you are paying money on him, you need to reimburse yourself.
It is hard to remember to do, and keep receipts of larger items.

His money is for spending on his needs, essential and otherwise. You can have a baseline amount in there, but keep an eye on it.

The UC people check his bank statements, and if you cannot provide up-to-date ones, they will close his claim.

That's good advice.

I think in reality it's about who is the beneficial owner. Clearly there are cases where a child is very young, or has issues like the OP's son,which mean the parent has to operate the account on their behalf.

If the account is in his name but you can sign on it then I think you should be OK. If it's in your name it can get more problematic.

Who owns the money is something a DWP decision maker will need to decide on.

If their decision goes against you there is a right of appeal.

@Milkandcornflakes

For clarity children's savings are totally disregarded. It's only those of the claimant (and their partner in a joint claim) that count.

As long as you can show the moneys belong to your son, i.e. he has the beneficial interest, you should be OK. I don't think it's necessary for him to be in control of the account. Even without his health issues a 13y/o is pretty young to be managing their own account with thousands rather than a few tens of pounds in it.

Obviously this provides a means by which a dishonest claimant could try and conceal money which be seen as deprivation. Expect to need to produce bank statements to show you're not, for example, 'churning' money between accounts. If it's just an account with payments out to replace kit he's damaged it should be good.

Thanks so much everyone!

To be safe I'd get rid of the extra to make sure you're below the 6k. Unless it's transferred to some sort of trust where only he could access aged 18 plus. If he's too unwell to deal with it at that point then you could then be involved in his financial management.
I always err on the side of caution with this as if you were caught out there's no way they'd believe you did it by accident, nor would they care.

You don't have to get rid of money ! you are allowed up to 16k savings on UC it's just that there is some deduction for anything over 6k.

If it's the kid's money and you can show that it is it's disregarded.

At least in theory, if it's the kid's money, it is ignored. It's literally that simple.

Evidencing that it is can present practical difficulties but they shouldn't be insurmountable.