I suspect I know the answer to this but thought I would ask anyway, just in case.
I am a single parent, work full time, but at a very average wage and really need the help of tax credits to manage. I am also an only child, with only my mum left now. My mum would like to set up a joint bank account with me so that I have access to some of her money in the event of her needing to go into hospital or some other unforeseen eventuality as I would struggle to help her if she had anything other than a short term problem - she is not well off but has enough money to live well at the moment. At the same time, we are registering an official 'power of attorney but if I've read the bumpf right, even by doing this it maybe some time before I would be able to access funds on her behalf. This is causing my mum some stress (she saw her nieces go through a difficult time with my aunt who had dementia and is worrying, probably unnecessarily, about the impact she could possibly have on my life should the same happen to her - bless her, she's a terrible worrier!) and her solicitor told her to open an account with me, assuming she trusts me (which she does!). It makes sense. But....
I am guessing that under both tax credits and universal credit, I can't actually share an account in this way without any money in it it somehow becoming 'my' money and the powers that be asking questions about where it has come from and then it ultimately being classed as income having an impact on my tax credit? am I right? If so, is there any legal way around this in terms of being able to ring fence an account of my mum's money in both our names?
I am a single parent, work full time, but at a very average wage and really need the help of tax credits to manage. I am also an only child, with only my mum left now. My mum would like to set up a joint bank account with me so that I have access to some of her money in the event of her needing to go into hospital or some other unforeseen eventuality as I would struggle to help her if she had anything other than a short term problem - she is not well off but has enough money to live well at the moment. At the same time, we are registering an official 'power of attorney but if I've read the bumpf right, even by doing this it maybe some time before I would be able to access funds on her behalf. This is causing my mum some stress (she saw her nieces go through a difficult time with my aunt who had dementia and is worrying, probably unnecessarily, about the impact she could possibly have on my life should the same happen to her - bless her, she's a terrible worrier!) and her solicitor told her to open an account with me, assuming she trusts me (which she does!). It makes sense. But....
I am guessing that under both tax credits and universal credit, I can't actually share an account in this way without any money in it it somehow becoming 'my' money and the powers that be asking questions about where it has come from and then it ultimately being classed as income having an impact on my tax credit? am I right? If so, is there any legal way around this in terms of being able to ring fence an account of my mum's money in both our names?