Child stakeholder pension for son with severe learning difficulties.

JMW77

I started a stakeholder for all my children just paying the minimum amount in a month from when child stakeholders first came out.

Now my youngest son also has one, but he has severe learning difficulties so I am wondering if I have done the right thing as he will always need to be living with family or in some sort of care setting.He will almost certainly never take care of his own money so I am wondering whether I should continue this pension for him as someone else at some point will have control of his money and he is never likely to want much just a safe place to live.Also it may effect whatever benefits he's entitled to .I like to treat all my children the same even though I can't really afford the pension easily now as I can't work so I'm struggling to decide what to do or just stick with it.
Any advice would be appreciated ,Thanks.

Albermarle

Sorry to hear about your son, I know it can be a shock to find out and adapt to such news. It is generally better for someone in his position to have no assets , as otherwise once he turns 18 , they will be taken into account when assessing benefits . For the same reason any money left to him in a will should be left in trust .
Having said that a pension may be OK , as it is not accessible until he is much older, so may not be taken into account .
 as someone else at some point will have control of his money

Once he is 18 , he will officially be the responsibility of the council adult social services.

That is as far as I understand the situation anyway. 

You can also ask the question on the MSE disabilities forum where there are a couple of experts on disability benefits etc .
Disability Money Matters — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Notepad_Phil

I don't know how pensions would affect benefits etc, but if you do find out that pensions are not suitable then you might want to consider setting up a S&S ISA in your own name and invest the money into this ISA instead of to the pension. You can then consider how you wish to use the invested money at a later date.

JMW77

Albermarle said:

Sorry to hear about your son, I know it can be a shock to find out and adapt to such news. It is generally better for someone in his position to have no assets , as otherwise once he turns 18 , they will be taken into account when assessing benefits . For the same reason any money left to him in a will should be left in trust .
Having said that a pension may be OK , as it is not accessible until he is much older, so may not be taken into account .
 as someone else at some point will have control of his money

Once he is 18 , he will officially be the responsibility of the council adult social services.

That is as far as I understand the situation anyway. 

You can also ask the question on the MSE disabilities forum where there are a couple of experts on disability benefits etc .
Disability Money Matters — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Thank you, he's also has savings and premium bonds all started before I knew about his difficulties as at first we just knew he had autism but didn't really know how this would affect him or how severe it would turn out to be,but I also thought its better for him to have no assets  .I think I should stop payments and keep any money I would of put in his direction in my name for now .

Cheese1990

Having a pension will not negatively affect your sons entitlement to benefits and any assets wouldn't affect the majority of benefits he'd be entitled too such as PIP et al. The area that the assets would come into play is funding social care but if his needs are really that severe he is likely to end up funded by CHC

GunJack

@JMW77 I understand your concerns as we have an autistic son coming up 21. Something to consider, and I don't want to come over as insensitive, but do your son's total conditions mean he may have a reduced life expectancy? If so, you may be better investing the money in another way rather than a pension in his name. Like I said, I don't want to sound insensitive, just practical.

Albermarle

Cheese1990 said:

Having a pension will not negatively affect your sons entitlement to benefits and any assets wouldn't affect the majority of benefits he'd be entitled too such as PIP et al. The area that the assets would come into play is funding social care but if his needs are really that severe he is likely to end up funded by CHC

You are right that assets do not usually affect benefit payments like PIP etc , but as you say once he is an adult he could be liable to pay for his own social care costs( or part of it ) if he had assets in his own name . In fact most councils claw back some benefits to help with care funding even if you have no assets .
Severe learning disability would not be classed as something covered by CHC ( health funding ) , unless they had high medical needs as well . In which case unfortunately shortened life expectancy would probably  be an issue anyway .
It is quite possible that even someone with very severe learning disabilities , requiring constant care and attention, may be medically quite healthy, or any less serious medical issues can be dealt with in the normal way via a GP etc .
 

Cheese1990

Albermarle said:

Cheese1990 said:

Having a pension will not negatively affect your sons entitlement to benefits and any assets wouldn't affect the majority of benefits he'd be entitled too such as PIP et al. The area that the assets would come into play is funding social care but if his needs are really that severe he is likely to end up funded by CHC

You are right that assets do not usually affect benefit payments like PIP etc , but as you say once he is an adult he could be liable to pay for his own social care costs( or part of it ) if he had assets in his own name . In fact most councils claw back some benefits to help with care funding even if you have no assets .
Severe learning disability would not be classed as something covered by CHC ( health funding ) , unless they had high medical needs as well . In which case unfortunately shortened life expectancy would probably  be an issue anyway .
It is quite possible that even someone with very severe learning disabilities , requiring constant care and attention, may be medically quite healthy, or any less serious medical issues can be dealt with in the normal way via a GP etc .
 

Hi,
Working in the field I can assure you people with severe LD do get CHC funding and they don't necessarily have a high level of medical need. In terms of shortened life expectancy this is an unfortunate reality for most people with an LD unfortunately and not directly relates to their health conditions.

In terms of council claw back when someone requires care they are covered by the minimum income guarantee so they will leave you with about £189pw after all your expenses.

Albermarle

Cheese1990 said:

Albermarle said:

Cheese1990 said:

Having a pension will not negatively affect your sons entitlement to benefits and any assets wouldn't affect the majority of benefits he'd be entitled too such as PIP et al. The area that the assets would come into play is funding social care but if his needs are really that severe he is likely to end up funded by CHC

You are right that assets do not usually affect benefit payments like PIP etc , but as you say once he is an adult he could be liable to pay for his own social care costs( or part of it ) if he had assets in his own name . In fact most councils claw back some benefits to help with care funding even if you have no assets .
Severe learning disability would not be classed as something covered by CHC ( health funding ) , unless they had high medical needs as well . In which case unfortunately shortened life expectancy would probably  be an issue anyway .
It is quite possible that even someone with very severe learning disabilities , requiring constant care and attention, may be medically quite healthy, or any less serious medical issues can be dealt with in the normal way via a GP etc .
 

Hi,
Working in the field I can assure you people with severe LD do get CHC funding and they don't necessarily have a high level of medical need. In terms of shortened life expectancy this is an unfortunate reality for most people with an LD unfortunately and not directly relates to their health conditions.

In terms of council claw back when someone requires care they are covered by the minimum income guarantee so they will leave you with about £189pw after all your expenses.

My own personal experience, and that of other contacts is that the medical bar to get CHC funding is quite high , even when the learning disability is severe . However you clearly will have a wider range of experience working in the field.

Alice_Holt

Re Benefits.

Means tested benefits (such as Universal Credit) are unaffected by savings held in a pension wrapper.
PIP / DLA is not means tested, so are not affected by any savings / capital.

However, when your son reaches state pension age - then any pensions funds / income will reduce the main means tested benefit (which is pension credit).  OTOH, whilst in receipt of Universal Credit your son will get NI credits which build up his entitlement to a full (new) State Pension (after 35 yrs). 

The rules on savings and means tested benefits are here:
https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/savings

My suggestion would be that rather than making pension contributions in his own name, you build up funds under your control which can be used to help him at important stages in his life (such as household stuff when he moves into sheltered accommodation). Gifts / goods are not treated as income in the calculation of his benefits.

I assume he is in receipt of DLA / PIP - are you claiming carers allowance (if he lives with you, and is not in receipt of ESA with the Severe Disability Premium) ?

https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance

Marcon

JMW77 said:

.I like to treat all my children the same even though I can't really afford the pension easily now as I can't work so I'm struggling to decide what to do or just stick with it.
.

Where children have vastly different needs, maybe loving them the same but responding as best you can to them as individuals is a more realistic option; and taking your own needs into account, especially if you are the primary carer, isn't just 'allowed' but essential. That's not my own observation - it was made to me by the father of 3 children, two of whom were profoundly disabled - and I thought it worth sharing.