Savings in my name stopping Universal Credit despite low income

[slowingdown1]

can anyone more financially savvy than me help?
Recently divorced, ex DH pays minimum child maintenance. Have a low
income due to home working in low demand role so I can care
for 2 x disabled children. Yearly
salary is £31k before tax, I save £100 monthly into pension. I claim Scottish disability payments for both kids which go on private treatment / therapies. Each month I scrap by and have a constant low credit card debt despite my best efforts. I have savings that were gifted to me by my mum as long-term financial security of £80k. Although the money is legally in my name, I have made a firm promise to her that I will not use it, so morally I do not feel able to touch it until she is no longer with us.
My current income is low, but because these savings are in my name, they are preventing me from applying for Universal Credit as above
the threshold.
I understand I can’t eg transfer the savings into trusts for my kids as this would constitute deprivation of capital. I can’t ask my mum to eg take it back for the same reason.

The problem with CAB is that most are volunteers and their advice is based on their own understanding of the rules, which in many cases isnt that great. Frankly, googling can be more accurate sometimes.

Thats why you would be better looking into the charities that are dedicated to the your childrens needs. I had to do this with eldest DS. They were far more clued up as they had had specific training in supporting families in my situation.

I don’t think she’s ever done anything wrong in her life! Especially not knowingly. She’s one of life’s good ones. She has increasingly advanced dementia and I imagine it will fall to me if anyone wants to comb over her account as I live near her to help her. She has nothing to hide.

That’s really helpful, thank you.

Probably wind up as similar post on a fb group re having overclaimed uc by loads due to savings.

Depends when she did it. There is a time limit on these things.

If the CAB advised you cannot spend that money to make ends meet they are simply wrong!

It's more likely they told you you cannot get rid of that asset by buying things you don't really need or by transferring it to other people just so you can get below the magic 16k and qualify for UC.

Not sure how on earth I can prove I’m real! Happy to answer any questions you have. I haven’t claimed anything let alone overclaimed.

It was 7/8 years ago (I’d need to check for exact date)

UK Gov Universal Credit: money, savings and investments

You have not knowingly reduced your money, savings and investments if it has been used to:

• pay off or reduce a debt

Yes I think she does CAB can be good they can also be utterly crap. It just depends on the advisor you get.

Do you know anywhere the OP can look up the rules regarding paying off a mortgage?

If she gave the £ away when she knew was unwell I don't think the timing is relevant.

GOV.UK are pretty good.

I really don't understand this post at all. What is the dilemma here? If you have £80K in savings, you won't qualify for U.C. anyway. You are not eligible at all for U.C. at all. There is no catch-22. You simply won't have U.C. and you will HAVE to use your savings to live on.

Cross posted. Hopefully that will give her the reassurance. She needs to pay off her mortgage with the money and I believe her Mum's intention was for the children to always have the therapy and treatment that they need and this is one way of doing it so I don't think she's going against what her mum actually wanted to achieve, even if it's not exactly the same way they had discussed but her situation now is completely different to how it was when her mum gave her the money.

Why didn't your mum make a will and leave it to the children? It could have been held in trust for them. Sorry, I know that's with the benefit of hindsight, but if she intended it for their futures, giving it to you was the wrong move. I do sympathise, it is a shitty position to be in.

Time limit does not apply if people are talking about deprivation of assets

She did, she gifted it the week after her official diagnosis (we already suspected what it was)

That will be linked to inheritance tax I expect

There is no limit on deprivation of assets for care costs if they can prove she knew she would need care at the time. Lots of people say “but 7 years”. That’s only for inheritance tax.

OP you need to use the money in your bank account to get by. End of.

Doesnt matter how you got it doesnt matter that you dont want to spend it yet. None of that matters.

Youre struggling to get by yet you have cash in the bank. Can you not see why youre not entitled to UC? Seriously? Really?

Im going to be blunt here - you are either extremely nieve or just a bit selfish. Sorry. I cant see it any other way.

UC should be there when its a final option and all other money is gone.

As someone who has been entitled to the grand total of fuck all all my life, even when I lost my job for a few months, even when nursery bills sucked the life outta me and works my fucking ass off to basically have little left after my bills I cannot anymore with this post.

Good luck.

You wouldn't be frittering it away. You will be using it to cover your essential outgoings during a time that you can't afford to do it. How does it provide financial security if you can't use it to stop yourself getting in to debt. Isn't financial security knowing that you have enough to cover your outgoings?

I honestly don’t know. I think at the time, to her, it made sense. I know she won’t have known anything about deprivation of assets. Thank you for being kind.

Oh I'm not saying she was trying to scam the system, not at all. From what you've said I think she genuinely wanted to do a kind thing. Financial stuff is complicated. It's easy to think "well I earned it, it's mine to do with as I wish".

If she needs care, she will need to provide her financial info (or whoever has POA for her.....you?) and the local authority or council will go over her accounts. It's stressful.

The OP has said that her mother gave her the money when she was diagnosed with dementia. If she does need council care, then that will absolutely be considered deprivation of assets.

I had to use 25 k of savings to fund my maternity leave and nursery before funding came in. Why should the tax payer care if I had ‘promised’ to set it aside for something else? I had to spend it and didn’t get any uc because I had it to spend. Uc is for people on the breadline.