Why Do They Want To Know About My 5 Month Old Sons Savings On HB/CTB Form?!

bestpud

fairplay4u wrote: »

To OP
I have to say 'i hear ya & i feel ya sista' lol, I think there is a lot of grey areas when it comes to including childrens savings as if it where your own, main ac being CTF. I work in a bank so I know a parent, granparent, godparent or any adult can open a savings ac for a child (as long as they have birth cert ect) I think only a childs savings ac with the benefit applicants name on it should be considered, not if the childs has another adults name on it because only the the adults name on ac & the child have authority to withdraw on the ac. Catch my drift?
As i said I think its a pretty big grey area, so OP keep ur chin up, you have paid taxes to help others in there time of need so now they are returning the favour, it does swing in roundabouts, Best wishes.

The problem with this 'hint' is they specifically ask if the children you name have any savings over £3k.

And the child would have those savings, even if it were the GPs name alongside it.

Needs must imo. None of us would like to end up using our child's money to pay bills but it has to be better than getting up to your eyeballs in debt, or going without food, or losing the roof over their head, doesn't it?

briona

viktory wrote: »

Speaking only for myself, I know the OP said that her child only has £75. However, this sparked an interesting (and so far civil) debate about children's savings and benefits.

Still, £75 is a lot of money to some people and could provide the family with a week's food shopping, for example. If it were my child's money I would have no hesitation in using it if it were needed.

I completely agree with you Viktory – mostly I'm just playing Devil's Advocate!

Personally I don't think that a child NEEDS savings, and one could even argue that you learn the real value of money when you don't have it handed to you on a plate! Controversial perhaps but just my opinion...

Logically one would raid their children's savings accounts if they had fallen on hard times, or were reliant on benefits. Yet you only have to read through people's posts on DFW to see that no matter how much debt they are in, the last thing they want to do is stop putting money away for their children, grandchildren or nieces and nephews! And all because people seem to believe that they MUST save for their children's futures – that University education or a house deposit perhaps.

Unfortunately today's toddlers are tomorrow's reckless teenagers! I'd be absolutely gutted if I had struggled to save hard every month only to watch my teenager p*ss it up the wall on a two week bender in Ibiza!

aliasojo

Talking about playing Devil's Advocate....what about a 15 year old who had had birthday and Xmas money paid into his account since birth along with a small amount from Granny every now and then and was intending moving out on his 16th birthday in 6 months time and was about to use the money for his first rented flat.

Mum and Dad separated when young person was 10 and new step Dad and young person hate each other with a vengeance. Young person is depressed and failing at school and feels the only way he can cope is to leave home. Parent and step parent are happy to see the back of him. However both parent and step parent both lose their jobs at the local car manufacturer and very quickly cant cope with mortgage/bills etc......is it still expected that the young person's money should be used, since he is still a child and he has savings that could pay their bills?

Btw...this is very much a hypothetical. I'm just back to the 'nothing is clear cut' scenario.

rosered1963

Hi Ladyrider - the advice on here is correct - as you have had a change in circumstances (moving house) and filled in a new claim form, they a re just checking to make sure they aren't overpaying you - they do it with everyone so its not personal. Hope that your fortunes change.

LizzieS_2

krisskross wrote: »

I pay £30 a month into my grandsons account. Have done since he was born almost 5 years ago. I would be horrified if his parents were truly in dire need yet left that money untouched. They are a family, they do what is best for the family unit. If that means using the lad's savings to pay the mortgage or whatever for a couple of months if they fall on hard times so be it. Better than losing their home.

What a lovely example of a caring parent and grandparent.

I was under the impression that savings in childrens account given by a 3rd party did not count in the 3K limit if evidence could be provided, but interest would count.

moggylover

krisskross wrote: »

Obviously it is a different scenario when money CAN'T be accessed. That is not the issue here.

But does that not discriminate against those children born before the CTF came in and who do not have a government protected CTF?

Personally I would still feel as bad about helping myself to my childrens money as I would to putting my hand in someone else's handbag and I doubt that those that think it is okay to use the childs money in this "belongs to the family" sense would be so happy if their 10, 12 or 21 year old turned around and did the same with their savings:eek:

briona

moggylover wrote: »

Personally I would still feel as bad about helping myself to my childrens money as I would to putting my hand in someone else's handbag and I doubt that those that think it is okay to use the childs money in this "belongs to the family" sense would be so happy if their 10, 12 or 21 year old turned around and did the same with their savings:eek:

A child doesn't HAVE money in the same sense that an adult does. Any money in your child's name has either been given to him/her by you from your income or by someone else – they haven't actually earned it so to me it wouldn't feel as though you were sticking your hand into someone else's handbag!

In all honesty if I was struggling to pay the bills (and had children of course!) I would have no qualms whatsoever about raiding my child's savings account, if only to take back what I had put in there. They will obviously benefit from me being able to keep the house warm and put food on the table.

However if the child's grandparents were to give him/her £20 birthday money for example, no matter how much I was struggling I would want to see that money used for what the child's grandparents had intended – to buy my child a birthday present.

viktory

moggylover wrote: »

Personally I would still feel as bad about helping myself to my childrens money as I would to putting my hand in someone else's handbag and I doubt that those that think it is okay to use the childs money in this "belongs to the family" sense would be so happy if their 10, 12 or 21 year old turned around and did the same with their savings:eek:

We will have to agree to disagree on this. As far as I am concerned any savings, be it belonging to the mother, father or child should be used for the good of the family, if needed.

The difference between the child 'helping themselves' and the parent is that one would assume that the child would not intend to spend it on rent or food.

Of course, I would not advocate any parent taking their child's money to waste it on flat screen TV's or drugs, but again if a family fall on hard times then any money saved should be used before benefits are offered.

One would assume that once the fiscal situation had improved the money would be replaced - again, it is unlikely a child would be in a position to do this. I do think the comparison between an adult using money that has been saved for a child as a last resort when financial disaster strikes and a child helping themselves is a ludicrous one.

ladyrider260

Crikey....I didn't realise that this post would spark such debate. It's been interesting looking at others opinions and what they'd do.

Firstly, thankyou for the posters who have offered some good advice & best wishes. It's a cr*p situation to be in and the last thing we need to hear are rants about the taxpayer supporting us. It's upsetting. It is not a place we want to be in and are working hard to resolve it.
We've been taxpayers for most of our lives. I've never had a complaint about that, even when I hear about people who have never paid into the system but take home twice as much as my partner and I put together. I figure I'd rather go home with dirty hands and a some pride than do that........I'd also be VERY bored sat at home all day!!

As for my sons money, it was all gifts given to him when he was born & christmas. I wouldn't even begin to entertain the idea of using his money unless it was for him. After all (and as someone said before) it's not my money. I'd rather live on value brand pasta & pay the heating bill with the food money than dip into his savings.
Before the comments fly...I breastfeed. That's REAL moneysaving!!

His grandparents wish to save for his future so HE doesn't have to rely on benefits. We were planning on doing this but are in no position to do so at the moment, hence the grandparents stepping in.
It's breaking the circle that we've been caught in because our parents couldn't afford to save for us. We managed to save a little bit but our savings have now depleted as we've used them to live on since we've hit hard times, so we know how valuable savings are.
If he chooses to go to University, he hopefully will have enough to mostly see him through without leaving up to his eyeballs in debt.

As for him wasting it on a 2wk knees up in Ibiza, we hope he'll grow up with the same money savvy that our folks brought us up with & won't waste it on a holiday.

bestpud

ladyrider260 wrote: »

Crikey....I didn't realise that this post would spark such debate. It's been interesting looking at others opinions and what they'd do.

Firstly, thankyou for the posters who have offered some good advice & best wishes. It's a cr*p situation to be in and the last thing we need to hear are rants about the taxpayer supporting us. It's upsetting. It is not a place we want to be in and are working hard to resolve it.
We've been taxpayers for most of our lives. I've never had a complaint about that, even when I hear about people who have never paid into the system but take home twice as much as my partner and I put together. I figure I'd rather go home with dirty hands and a some pride than do that........I'd also be VERY bored sat at home all day!!

As for my sons money, it was all gifts given to him when he was born & christmas. I wouldn't even begin to entertain the idea of using his money unless it was for him. After all (and as someone said before) it's not my money. I'd rather live on value brand pasta & pay the heating bill with the food money than dip into his savings.
Before the comments fly...I breastfeed. That's REAL moneysaving!!

His grandparents wish to save for his future so HE doesn't have to rely on benefits. We were planning on doing this but are in no position to do so at the moment, hence the grandparents stepping in.
It's breaking the circle that we've been caught in because our parents couldn't afford to save for us. We managed to save a little bit but our savings have now depleted as we've used them to live on since we've hit hard times, so we know how valuable savings are.
If he chooses to go to University, he hopefully will have enough to mostly see him through without leaving up to his eyeballs in debt.

As for him wasting it on a 2wk knees up in Ibiza, we hope he'll grow up with the same money savvy that our folks brought us up with & won't waste it on a holiday.

Are you seriously blaming your parents lack of savings for the situation you find yourselves in? :eek:

How old are you?

We have eaten value brand pasta for a very long while, with two of us working so I'd hardly call that scraping the bottom of the barrel!

If they brought you up to be money savvy, then why are you now blaming them for not scraping to provide you with savings?

You have a very unusual outlook if you don't mind me saying so!