Childrens savings and income support

aurorahelios

I'm thinking of putting some money for my daughter into a savings account with my mum as trustee. My mum is on income support, if I was to do this would she have to declare this money to the benefits agency?

seven-day-weekend

AFAIK, if the money is in your mum's name, it will be classed as her money and will have to be declared.

Perhaps you could explain a little more what you are thinking of doing and whose name it would be in?

Scarlett1

yes as the account will have your mum's name on it she will have to make the DWP aware, why dont you open a trust fund in your daughter's name only ?

aurorahelios

My daughters only 3 so the account would be in her name but because of her age it needs an adult to act as trustee of the account.

As this money is intended for my daughters future I was thinking of asking my mum to be the trustee to make it harder for us to access the money. Alternatively, I could open the account with me as trustee and ask my mum to keep the passbook.

seven-day-weekend

I think your 'alternative' idea is the best one!:D

itsnotfair_2

Definitely don't use your Mums name as this will store up loads of possible trouble for her. Your name is better. You will just have to be strong and not take it out.

real1314

It's not true that if your mum's name is on the account that it will be treated as her money.

There was a case regarding a property which was jointly held, where the assumption was made that it was split 50:50, which is generally acceptable. However the claimant was able to show that the ownership was not split in this way, and the decision was that the assesment should reflect the ownership as shown by the claimant. (S of S for works and Pension v Hourigan). In this case it would be shown that although the mum's name was on the account, she has no beneficial interest in the money held i.e a 100:0 split.

dawnydee73

My friend had normal saving accounts for her 2 children which went over what they were allowed at the time - this was before you could have £6000 in savings. Someone from Income Support said she needed to put the childrens saving into a trust fund then they wouldn't count towards the allowance

itsnotfair_2

real1314 wrote: »

It's not true that if your mum's name is on the account that it will be treated as her money.

There was a case regarding a property which was jointly held, where the assumption was made that it was split 50:50, which is generally acceptable. However the claimant was able to show that the ownership was not split in this way, and the decision was that the assesment should reflect the ownership as shown by the claimant. (S of S for works and Pension v Hourigan). In this case it would be shown that although the mum's name was on the account, she has no beneficial interest in the money held i.e a 100:0 split.

It really is not worth the hassle of trying to prove a case to the IS people, who act first and ask later. Why should the Mum have the hassle, when the parent can just put their name on the money and not spend it.

earthmother

If it's intended to be long term savings, then why not put it into the Child Trust Fund account your daughter will have? Any money in there cannot be withdrawn, and can't be included in any means test/benefit calculations.

If the CTF isn't an option for some reason, then Harpenden Building Society do a children's savings account that can't be drawn from until they are 18, which might also be worth considering.

aurorahelios

thanks for all your replies. I have no intention of implicating my mum in any kind of situation which may cause her any difficulties with the benefits agency, so in the short term while we make a decision about how we are going to invest this money i think my alternative will be the way forward.

The CTF isn't really an option, there is a limit on what you can put in and this money is more than that. I also have issues with the way the money can be used for anything they like when they're just 16. I will probably look into the Harpenden account though.