inheritance................do we blow the lot

multii

Hope this is the correct forum and someone is able to advise me.

"Happy days or so i thought when my wife, told me she was to recieve an inheritance from a deceased relative. (i am 61 and my wife is 56).

We are both in recept of highest rate disability,and pension credit, with me being recovering from a lung cancer operation with complications, and latterly my wife being diagnosed terminally ill with cancer.

We have been told that the inheritance would be sufficent to invalidate the pension credit that we recieve,and which was enough for us to live on and keep the bills paid.

Can anyone tell me what the Dwp reaction would be if we were to literally blow the lot..... cruise, new car, las vegas, gifts to relatives and family,etc in a short space of time, and then claim pension credit again,

I would normally never have contemplated doing this but my wife only has a few months left so "what the hell".
Thanks...................Mike

notlongnow_2

I dont think you would be allowed to do this and still keep your pension credit, although I understand why you would want too.

I have read similar posts to yours in the past and im sure the answer was no, but im sure someone moew knowledgable would confirm this.

Good luck.

brians_daughter

deprivation of income i think is the term they use for means tested benefits, If you blew the lot to 'get shut' of the money it would be classed as this. If on the other hand it was for home improvements etc then that would be different.

Sorry to hear about your wife, I wish you both the best.

brians_daughter

maybe worth speaking with them, obviously they are aware of your situ and ask re holiday of a life time given your wifes prognosis ? Not that you should need their permission to spend the money but you dont want to find out after it has all gone that you will get no more credits

multii

Has anyone actually been in this situation? and if so what did you do.???
would like to weigh up all possibilities before deciding what to do myself.
Many thanks for your help ...Mike

bunny999

How much money will you have ? If you spend it all in order to claim means tested benefits this is deprivation of capital. At best you will be treated as if you still have the money, at worst you could be done for fraud. You are allowed £6,000 without it effecting means tested benefits.

multii

bunny999 wrote: »

How much money will you have ? If you spend it all in order to claim means tested benefits this is deprivation of capital. At best you will be treated as if you still have the money, at worst you could be done for fraud. You are allowed £6,000 without it effecting means tested benefits.

Amount of inheritance is still unkown but thought to be substantial .
I am under the impression that the allowance for pension credit is about to be, or has been raised to £10,000 as i am over 60.
The question of fraud as mentioned in the post above is worrying but i have no intention of claiming anything whilst any money is still in our possesion.

Thanks,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,mike

beanybop

Hello Multi

You can get carer's allowance each for the other if you both get high rate care DLA. Yes, I know this seems wierd, but it is true.

This may be more than the pension credit methinks, and may be worth looking into. Carer's allowance is not means tested for capital, only for income, as in earnings and Income support etc.

cattie

Forgive me, but I can never understand the point in people wanting to spend money on things just to retain an entitlement to means tested benefits.

If an inheritance is going to give you enough to live on without the need for means tested benefits then shouldn't you just enjoy having the money & spending it on essentials such as keeping warm & perhaps enjoying some luxury foods & a decent holiday rather than trying to blow the lot just so you can keep claiming means tested benefits?


Spending money deemed in an unnecessary way by DWP is considered deprivation of capital by DWP & as others have mentioned, you will be treated as still having the money & rightly so. The benefits system is there to help those that need the money.

It's sad that your wife is terminal, but no amount of savings or spending is going to prolong her life & you would be better to try to ensure that her last few months of life have as much quality as possible.

Macro_3

Cattie - I don't think that blowing the lot to retain entitlement to benefit is the OP's main intention, I think he's really just looking to give his wife a great last few months.

OP, the worst that could happen is that they treat you as if you still have the money, which might nil your entitlement to pension credits/housing/council tax benefit for many, many years. It would only be fraud if you did not declare the money when you receive it.

In order for the spending to be seen as deprivation of capital, they would have to show that you spent the money with the intention of making yourself eligible for benefit. If you blow every penny, particularly if you give some away as gifts to relatives, new car etc then I would probably view that as deprivation as you would just be spending for the sake of it. If, on the other hand, you were to spend a some of the money on a lovely holiday or something you could both enjoy given your wife's poor prognosis, that would be much more reasonable.

viktory

Macro wrote: »

Cattie - I don't think that blowing the lot to retain entitlement to benefit is the OP's main intention, I think he's really just looking to give his wife a great last few months.

I thought it did read as intentional deprivation of capital with the intention of claiming benefits when it has all gone.

Sadly, although I understand your logic be careful. If the DWP do think you have intentionally deprived yourself of that money they can treat it like you still have it - and therefore you will not be entitled to some means tested benefits.

So a few month down the line you could be in the uncomfortable position of grieving and being investigated and/or having benefits withheld so financially you suffer. I am sure your wife wouldn't want that for you.