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.

This! Thousands of people are on the breadline and you have 80k in the bank, it is far more morally wrong for you to try and claim UC, rather than break a promise to your mum. EIGHTY THOUSAND! You're incredibly fortunate. Leave UC for those that aren't.

If your mum gave you money for financial security surely now is the time to spend it?
That’s what savings are for?

Absolutely. I’d love to use it towards paying off my credit card debt and using it to help make ends meet. I’d understood (perhaps wrongly) from CAB that i wouldn’t be entitled to UC if I had spent it as it would still be considered an asset. I’ll never be able to earn more and my children will always need care so I am trying to get to a more stable place in terms of my income.

Take home - write a Will and organise your personal finances while you are in good health.

I was wrong.

There is no limit on how far back they can go, so if you are not 100% sure your brother will pay the care fees (especially considering how high they are), put it on the mortgage. You keeping it untouched could look like deprivation of assets.

My brother has POA but I think realistically I’ll be the one getting papers in order as he’s abroad. It is what it is. He is more financially smart than me so made sense for him to have POA.

Although I think paying mortgage counts as repaying debt so it’s allowed

The problem is that the rules say you can use it to pay off debt but then say that they can act if they decide you have done it deliberately to get rid of capital. There is not a clear list of acceptable spend and unacceptable spend so the power is with them.
You have said that you do not want to touch this money to comply with your Mum’s wishes as well as having been advised that you should not risk being accused of deliberately getting rid of it to qualify for UC. The best thing you can do then is to make the money as useful as possible. Get it invested with as good a return as possible. Use the interest as income without touching the capital amount.

@Unexpectedlysinglemum ”Uc is for people on the breadline”

it’s not though. Lots of surprising people get it.

My understanding of UC and savings is that you are expected to use your savings to support yourself (reasonable, I think!) until they run out and then you can claim.

If you spent them on a Ferrari then yes, they could say it was deprivation of assets, but spending it on clearing the debt accrued from normal life and on day to day costs is fine.

What have I just read. How fucking entitled. This thread is ridiculous.

In respect of the OP's mother - it will be considered deprivation of assets whether or not the OP spends the money.

But it’s not catch 22 is it? It’s only ‘catch 22’ as you’re insistent on being able to claim UC. If you instead spend the £80k on living expenses it’s irrelevant as you won’t need to claim UC and no one will be classing you as having deliberately deprived anything. Say you’re £500 short each month - that £80k will give you over 12 years of being able to ‘top up’ your expenses. Therefore you don’t need to claim UC and you’re not deliberately giving it away or anything. Then, once it’s gone, you can see whether you still qualify for UC at that point

Try reading all of it, or at least the OP's posts

That’s exactly it. My Understanding is that if I use it to pay my debt / some Mortgage/ a wet room they will then possibly say I did it deliberately to get rid of it, so I wouldn’t get UC and I’d end up back to square one not making ends meet each month and relying on credit cards.

From the mother care cost perspective

It would still be deprivation of assets

That happened at the point that the mother transferred the money to the daughter.

hopefully that’s all okay though, if the brother is paying potential care costs.

Only if the brother doesnt pay the care fees, thats why I asked if she was sure he would.

My advice would be to put some money aside as an emergency fund that is safely invested at a low interest rate or in cash. Then invest the remainder in the stock market if you don't think you'd need to touch it in the near future. This should generate interest to allow you to either grow wealthier or help subsidize your yearly income.

The other option is to pay down the mortgage and allow you to have more monthly cash flow thanks to the lower payments. You could re amply for uc after enough time has gone by.

NB stock markets can go down of course, so should only be for longer term investing.

I am more than £500 short a month and that will only get worse when my mortgage is renewed, as my kids grow and their care becomes more costly and challenging.

Thank you

Using the money to "top up" your monthly income so that you aren't accruing debt will absolutely not be considered deliberately giving it away - it is exactly what they expect you to do with it. You can use it at the same rate as the amount you would receive in universal credit.

You can also use it to do necessary repairs and decorating on your home.

When you remortgage, you can pay it off the mortgage.

You can use it to buy yourself a new car once yours is beyond economic repair.

All things that are considered normal spending.

Dropping £80k in to your mortgage mid fixed rate and immediately claiming UC is not allowed.

FFS! You don't need to rely on credit cards - you have £80k! Use that money to make ends meet, instead of expecting others to pay your living costs.

That’s giving me hope. So in theory I could take out £1700 monthly to do all the things you mention and then in theory claim UC without it being considered an asset still?

Why are you paying for your children's care and therapies? Severely disabled children can get direct payments for their care from social services. NHS provides therapies, although I appreciate that waiting lists can be long you're not really in a situation where you can afford private health care.
Spending your savings on regular outgoings is by no means a deprivation of assets. I'm not sure how they would look at using it for private care that can be provided by social services and/or NHS. Maybe go back to CAB to clarify. If they were aware you were paying for care and therapy privately that may have been what they meant by deprivation of assets.
ETA 80k isn't going to fund life time care for two children with severe disabilities.

He'll need deep pockets.

It's one thing to say you'll pay for care costs - he may not fully understand how expensive it will be and there's no saying how long he might have to pay for care.