Special needs and banking

rorysdad

My son is special needs. He lives with me and is 20 years of age. He has mild cerebral palsy and severe learning disabilities. He cannot read or write. He has the understanding of a 6 year old. Up until age 18 he was at special schools.

He receives benefits which currently go into my bank account as DEP have made me his appointee.

i want him to have his own bank account - receiving into it his benefits etc. - an account in his own name.

i know there is an option for an appointee current account at Barclays Bank but that account only allows benefit payments to be deposited.

Anyone know what might do to get him a current account in his own name

Power of Attorney does not seem appropriate as I don’t think he has “mental capacity”?

RD

KxMx

Correct, POA is not possible as he lacks capacity.

The other route is via the Court of Protection where you would apply to become his Deputy.

https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy

Albermarle

KxMx said:

Correct, POA is not possible as he lacks capacity.

The other route is via the Court of Protection where you would apply to become his Deputy.

https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy

You can apply, but are unlikely to be successful. The Court has been  reluctant to award Deputyships for younger adults with learning disabilities for some years now. They prefer that all decisions about the person are taken in their 'Best Interest' . This usually means the parents/Doctor/ Social Services/care givers etc all agree on what is in the persons best interest. If there is a serious dispute the Court will get involved to give a ruling on a case by case basis.
I believe the reason for the reluctance to appoint a Deputy in these cases is due to past abuse/problems with the system. 

Albermarle

 want him to have his own bank account - receiving into it his benefits etc. - an account in his own name.

AIUI that will not be possible, a bank can not open an account for someone who lacks capacity. What you can do ( as you already know ) is open a separate/new current account for him in your name, as the DWP appointee.
Maybe his name will be mentioned somewhere, but effectively it will be your account.
I am not sure if only benefits can be paid into such an account. I suspect the rules might not be the same for every bank and probably you need a bank with branches to be able to sort it out.

elsien

Albermarle said:

KxMx said:

Correct, POA is not possible as he lacks capacity.

The other route is via the Court of Protection where you would apply to become his Deputy.

https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy

You can apply, but are unlikely to be successful. The Court has been  reluctant to award Deputyships for younger adults with learning disabilities for some years now. They prefer that all decisions about the person are taken in their 'Best Interest' . This usually means the parents/Doctor/ Social Services/care givers etc all agree on what is in the persons best interest. If there is a serious dispute the Court will get involved to give a ruling on a case by case basis.
I believe the reason for the reluctance to appoint a Deputy in these cases is due to past abuse/problems with the system. 

That is true for health and welfare deputyships but I thought was less of an issue with finances ones.
The bigger problem is likely to be the disproportionate application costs and ongoing fees for a deputyship which simply are not worth it for someone who does not have a higher level of assets and only has benefits as income. 
Without an LPA or deputyship being in place, you have no legal way to access his account and he is unable to monitor it for himself. That is why banks don't want to go there - effectively an account is being set up for someone who just can't manage it and won't understand if they are running up an overdraft or given their card to someone, or being financially abused. Which has all sorts of legal and other implications. 

If you can say why you want him to have his own account, people may be able to suggest alternatives - is it to keep his money separate from yours, is it to give him some independence, etc?

Beeblebr0x

My wife opened a basic account for our son at Nat West a few years ago so he could have benefits and any other money paid into an account in his own name. She has third party access, which means she has a debit card as well as our son. My wife had to make an appointment for them both to attend. Using the Nat West app, we managed to open a regular saver account for him, which pays interest on deposits from £20 up to £150 per month. The £20 is transferred from his account automatically but any other additional amount (up to £130) is optional.

I don't know what the situation is now that banks are closing branches left, right and centre.

bellabellini

One option I looked at is opening a separate joint account with my bank, with my daughter's name and mine.  In order to do this, she first needs to open her own bank account at that same bank, and only then can I set up a joint account.  Seems very strange, as the first account will then be redundant.