Account for ds

[Savings93]

So I have been able to save up a bit of money for ds (3) but want to put this in an account under his name. However I am thinking of investing some/all of this into buying a house in the next year or two which would be his to inherit once I pass away.

Is this something I can do? Are there any pitfalls I'm not seeing and is there a particular type of account that's wise to use for this?

It's not a huge amount or anything but it's currently in a savings pot attached to my own main account (pot is under his name and I've only ever added to it) but I've been told this might eventually affect my entitlement to universal credit (only the childcare component) if its not seen as my sons money even though, to my mind, it is. I don't want to be doing anything fraudulent so need to make sure it's in the right place under his name. It's just the child maintenance I get from his dad that I've been putting away for him, his dad is not reliable so I've never wanted to get used to spending it if that makes sense. Quite a few of the banks that have branches in my town are not offering children's accounts at present.

Do you own property already? I wouldn't buy a second property if so - kids can't own property so it would need to be in your name and you would have the hassle and costs of renting it. There are plenty of kids savers - I use money supermarket to find the best rates (all done online) and have a kids savings account (I can take the money out of this) and junior ISA ( can't access) for my DC.

No, me and ds are actually currently homeless waiting on my ex selling what was the former family home which was only in his name. He's really dragging his feet with it all so I've been trying to save as hard as I possibly can to get set up again, but at the same time I cannot mess around with my uc or I won't be able to afford to divorce him. Where I live uc is a gateway to legal aid which has just been such a massive help.

So you'd buy a house for you (and him) to live in untill you die, which he'd inherit? And you'd like the house to be in his name not yours? And this is because you don't want to affect your UC?
That's not something you can do

If you want to save in your son's name, the best return if you don't touch the money for more than 10 years will be a stocks and shares isa - use a platform like trading 212, vanguard or fidelity.

Or you can use MSE to find the best kids savings accounts

So basically you want to put the money in your kids name so you can claim UC until such a time as you are ready to buy a house, then you want the money back? That would be fraud. It’s either his money and fully in this name with you as a trustee, and the liner cannot be touched or it’s your money.

I don't know if there's a way that the money could be labelled as his with the solicitor so what i put into the house and what's his put into it are separate were it ever to be sold. To me that's just me investing his money as he'd get the return on it eventually and it probably be worth more than it sitting in a bank account? I will eventually have enough to be able to buy without using ds savings, when ex sells his house I'll have enough for a deposit, it just feels like if I can invest what I've saved for ds to give him more security and a better return on that money eventually then is that not worth considering. I'm not sure I see much difference in that than investing in stocks and shares etc which might be more risky. Obviously I don't want to be in any way fraudulent which is why I'm asking- I want to keep myself right but also I want to set ds up the best I can for the future and putting a secure roof over his head is essential.

So where are you living now?

Just living with family at the minute which is why I've been able to save a bit.

what is a bit?

I'm not over the threshold for uc to start to be reduced yet but I'm also not very far off it between savings I've put aside for a new house and savings I've put aside for ds combined. My worry was just that uc might look at ds money as my money because of the way I've saved it, attached to my savings account in a separate savings pot- I'm not sure how strict they are about this and don't want to do anything wrong.

Well it is your money…you saved it but allocated it to your DS. It’s still yours, honestly I think it’s pointless saving for him right now! It should all be in one pot for a house.

I understand this but then if I do that I'd eventually lose my universal credit if I continue to save and that means being unable to progress things with court to divorce my ex and probably losing out on having a deposit eventually as any money that would otherwise be coming to me would likely be eaten with legal fees since he's dragging it all out and ignoring my solicitor. There's also issues around contact etc and it's very likely my ex will lose his job eventually and will therefore be entitled to legal aid so I'm worried I could end up in a situation where I couldn't afford to fight him in court in order to protect ds from him. I'm just trying to work out what's the best way to protect both of us while giving ds as much security as I can without getting myself in any trouble or being fraudulent in the process. I'm not a high earner so eventually if I do get set up somewhere my savings capacity will be very limited.

If you put money in his name, it is then legally his money. You can't then spend it on buying your house. It may well be inherited by him one day but that is (hopefully) a long way off, much can change and it is not a legal 'thing' until the moment you die and it is what is in your valid Will at that time.

It is your money, not his, it is given to you to help towards the cost of raising him - housing, utilities, food, clothing.

Don't try to overcomplicate stuff, warn what you can, save what you can and buy a new property, whatever you can afford when the funds come through from sale of your previous home.

There are couple of issues here. You seem to be confusing saving for kids with investing it in your own house. Firstly savings for children are excluded for universal credit if you actually show they are in a kids account, what you seemed to have done is saved your money in your own accounts but mentally allocated this to DS. This is easily solved merely move it now to a kids account in his name, or set up a junior isa to be accessed at 18 if looking long term. If you have not already applied for the help to save account as you get uc you are eligible the returns are more than you would otherwise get. When you say you are not over the threshold anything over 6k starts to reduce so assume you are talking about small sum.

Put his savings in an ISA but you can't touch it or buy him a house with it.

You cannot separate your son’s money to later invest to your house. The only reason you are looking to do this is to get around UC rules. So your choices are to take the UC reduced for savings when the time comes or fully protect his money as his, but you cannot then use it for buying for buying a house.

You don't want to be fraudulent but are asking how to get around the rules of UC. 🤷

Yeah you can’t choose for it to be considered your DS’s now but yours again when buying a home, that’s not how it works.

Yes it's not a large amount but obviously I want to use/ invest/ save it in the most beneficial way for ds. I will look into the help to save account and junior isas.

@NotEnoughKnittingTime I'm asking to keep myself WITHIN the rules around UC while still maximising what we have available to us. Asking how I could hide money would be fraudulent and that's not my intent. The last thing I need is any issues with making mistakes with UC which is why I've asked for advice.