should my son have sole responsability with his own DLA money

[dollface2904]

hello
i am a mother to a 16 year old son with learning difficulties, he is in receipt of DLA, up until is 16th birthday all payments were made to me his carer, now he has turned 16 the money is being paid directly to him, my son although 16 has the maturity and learning of a 8-10 year old, he knows that he receives money to help with his difficulties, but my problem is that i dont think that he is responible enough to be in charge of so much money, i have discussed this in length with my partner and we are stuck as to wether to just allow my son to keep the money and spend it any way he sees fit, (it is his money) or to take some control of how the money is to be spent. my son is a loner, he cant go out anywhere by himself he has a adult with him at all times, before he turned 16 his money was used to buy days out and fun things that my son likes for in his room at home (ie games and stuff for wii and xbox)

i would love any kind of feedback that other parents may have regarding this problem.
also if any other parents had the same problem and how they resolved it

thanks

i would probably give him some of it (probably about a third) and bank the rest, that way he can see his money grow and its there if he needs it for his care etc.

i receive DLA for my son (6) and at the moment i bank half of it and spend the other half on days out, toys etc but the other half is put away for when he is older so that if he needs it in an emergency or needs extra support he can afford to get it and i would have to struggle to find the money.

how about a joint account, that way you can keep an eye on the money, but he still has the feeling that it is his. If he can't be trusted with the money, you take his name off the account.
If he doesn't go out alone that much, or at all, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, as you can monitor it. It maybe nice to let him have some responsiblity, many people with SN like your son aren't 100% 8-10 year old for example, and can be aware of how different they are. My step-brother is similar, and I know things like this have worked out well for him. And, as I said, you can always revoke the card if he goes a little mental with the spending (don't we all) maybe just give it to him when you are going out, so he has a card etc but only uses it when someone is there with him.

I'm not sure that it's as simple as that. I think you may have to go for financial guardianship to have some control over his money. He will be assumed to have the capacity to manage it unless he is assessed otherwise. I've been out of the LD field for a while, but I think you need to get some advice from Mencap or equivalent to keep yourselves in the clear.