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Nick_C

tokenfield wrote: »

The OP never said that - read the post properly!

The OP knew full well that the account was in their name but it was the mother's money. The OP never touched the account. The OP has also explained why the mother did it that way.

I did read the post properly thank you. OP implied that he knew nothing about the joint account he holds with his mother. This is what he said:-

"They also brought up another account which didn't ring any bells with me at all. After he left I discovered that this other account is actually my mothers. She put my name on the account when it was opened to make things easier for me when she dies. That's the way she thinks! Probably due to all the trouble she had when my father died. The point is this account which I think has about £8000 in it has nothing to do with me. I have never accessed it in any way and won't until my mother dies so how can they say it has anything to do with my benefits claim?"

If he knew about this joint account with his mother, then that exacerbates his benefit fraud. If he genuinely knew nothing about it, then his mother must have lied to the bank/building society to put his name on the account.

dodger1

Beowulf1954 wrote: »

They also brought up another account which didn't ring any bells with me at all. After he left I discovered that this other account is actually my mothers. She put my name on the account when it was opened to make things easier for me when she dies.

Beowulf1954 wrote: »

As for my mothers money held in my account you appear to have misread that one. The account in question is my mothers account in her name under her address not mine. It was money she inherited from my father when he died and nothing to do with me. I have never accessed that account and couldn't if I wanted to as my mother has the necessary cards in her safe. My name is on the account so that when my mother dies I will have access to it.

So are you saying it's a joint account? Surely it has to be if both names are on it.

benefitbaby

It is entirely possible that you can show no dishonesty or intent to defraud, in fact it is possible you can show that you and your mother and uncle effectively created a trust situation. If this is a trust/beneficial owner issue then this money should be disregarded and not counted for the purpose of means tested benefits.

Trusts do not have to be written to be legitimate, it is all about the intent of the parties, what words were exchanged, and who is the beneficial owner.

I strongly suggest you seek specialist advice from a welfare rights adviser (try CAB).

[Deleted User]

I appreciate you thought you were doing the right thing at the time, and don't regard the money in either account as 'yours' but I'm afraid you could find yourself in a complicated situation. The accounts are in your name.., so as far as IS is concerned you are likely to be found to have claimed benefits fraudulently. They will have expected you to have used this money to maintain yourself rather than buy a house and live on benefits. It may seem mad, but I am pretty sure that is how they will look at it.

As others have said, you will have to get legal representation. DO NOT attend any further meetings on your own, make recordings of what is said as if one slight slip up is made by the compliance department (I had quite an experience with them misrepresenting a situation I was in), it could affect the outcome of the case quite severely. I wish you luck.

Dunroamin

deannatrois wrote: »

I appreciate you thought you were doing the right thing at the time, and don't regard the money in either account as 'yours' but I'm afraid you could find yourself in a complicated situation. The accounts are in your name.., so as far as IS is concerned you are likely to be found to have claimed benefits fraudulently. They will have expected you to have used this money to maintain yourself rather than buy a house and live on benefits. It may seem mad, but I am pretty sure that is how they will look at it.

As others have said, you will have to get legal representation. DO NOT attend any further meetings on your own, make recordings of what is said as if one slight slip up is made by the compliance department (I had quite an experience with them misrepresenting a situation I was in), it could affect the outcome of the case quite severely. I wish you luck.

What on earth is "mad" about expecting someone with large amounts of money available to them to spend it on supporting themselves rather than claiming benefits?

The OP needs to come clean, repay the monies owed and not look for ways to manouevre himself out of his responsibilities.

benefitbaby

Dunroamin wrote: »

What on earth is "mad" about expecting someone with large amounts of money available to them to spend it on supporting themselves rather than claiming benefits?

The OP needs to come clean, repay the monies owed and not look for ways to manouevre himself out of his responsibilities.

If the money is not 'available' because it belongs or is trusted to someone else then the OP should/could not utilise this to support themselves. As I have said previously it depends who is the beneficial owner of the money and only the OP, his mother and uncle can answer that one.

DCFC79

Have some replies by OP disappeared ?