My (F38) daughter (10) received a trust

Hello all. As the title says my daughter was recently awarded a trust after a distant relative passed away. I won’t say the exact amount here, but it is more than 10k, less than 50k. I currently have it in a high yield savings account, though she also has a UTMA account, which is what the family member’s lawyer said I had to put it in originally to gain access to the money. The UTMA and high yield savings account are both under her name and I am the custodian for both.

I had originally made the account with the idea that the money should be doing something (gaining interest, available to pull out in an emergency) instead of just sitting with the lawyer until she’s 18. However, one thing I didn’t consider (because I’ve never dealt with this quantity of money before) is that because I have access to the money it can be counted against me for government assistance such as food stamps. I have not taken out any money from the account, I have only moved it to the high yield savings.

My questions are: Is there any restrictions for the amount of money I have access to in savings? Is there another account I need to put the money into to prevent from losing my benefits? Or have I messed everything up and will now lose my food stamps?

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u/Honeycomatose — 3 days ago

My (F, 28) daughter (10) was awarded a trust, but we’re poor (USA)

Hello all. As the title says my daughter was recently awarded a trust after a distant relative passed away. I won’t say the exact amount here, but it is more than 10k, less than 50k. I currently have it in a high yield savings account, though she also has a UTMA account, which is what the family member’s lawyer said I had to put it in originally to gain access to the money.

I had originally made the account with the idea that the money should be doing something (gaining interest, available to pull out in an emergency) instead of just sitting with the lawyer until she’s 18. However, one thing I didn’t consider (because I’ve never dealt with this quantity of money before) is that because I have access to the money it can be counted against me for government assistance such as food stamps. My plan was NOT to access her money unless absolutely necessary (with her knowledge and permission of course), however food stamps won’t see it that way, and we will most certainly be kicked off the program which we desperately need to make ends meet.

My questions are: Is there some type of account in which my daughter’s money can still gain interest or some value while keeping it separate from me in a way that would get family social services off my back? Is there something more beneficial I could be doing with the money while we wait for her to become of age?

Please keep in mind I have no savings, no experience with large sums of money. I am in the middle of a separation and am basically financially running my household by myself with 2 kids. Any advice is helpful, and I am crossposting for obvious reasons.

reddit.com
u/Honeycomatose — 3 days ago

My (F 28) daughter (10) was awarded a trust but we’re poor (USA)

Hello all. As the title says my daughter was recently awarded a trust after a distant relative passed away. I won’t say the exact amount here, but it is more than 10k, less than 50k. I currently have it in a high yield savings account, though she also has a UTMA account, which is what the family member’s lawyer said I had to put it in originally to gain access to the money.

I had originally made the account with the idea that the money should be doing something (gaining interest, available to pull out in an emergency) instead of just sitting with the lawyer until she’s 18. However, one thing I didn’t consider (because I’ve never dealt with this quantity of money before) is that because I have access to the money it can be counted against me for government assistance such as food stamps. My plan was NOT to access her money unless absolutely necessary (with her knowledge and permission of course), however food stamps won’t see it that way, and we will most certainly be kicked off the program which we desperately need to make ends meet.

My questions are: Is there some type of account in which my daughter’s money can still gain interest or some value while keeping it separate from me in a way that would get family social services off my back? Is there something more beneficial I could be doing with the money while we wait for her to become of age?

Please keep in mind I have no savings, no experience with large sums of money. I am in the middle of a separation and am basically financially running my household by myself with 2 kids. Any advice is helpful, and I am crossposting for obvious reasons.

reddit.com
u/Honeycomatose — 3 days ago