Inheritance & Benefits

Dibbothe3rd

Hello all, I hope someone can offer a little advice on what my Father should do.

My Grandpa passed away a few weeks ago and my father stand to inherit a tidy little sum. lets say for arguments sake its £50000.

the problem is, is that my dad doesn't want or need the money because he is on benefits, claiming housing, council tax and incapacity benefit. hes 59 years old and will be 60 in August this year.

He would rather the money go to myself and my brother.

Im trying to look at ways in which this money can be used to maximum effect and would like to know if a trust fund such as a bare trust or discretionary trust can be setup that will benefit all 3 of us.

Any advice would be much appreciated!!

Many thanks in advance.

Dibbo

karenx

If he goes to him then straight to you it could be viewed as him still having the money but getting rid of it in order to still claim benefits

fluffymovie

Hi there

If your father is the person named to inherit then if he disposes of the money, he may well forfeit benefits,

In my opinion, he would be better off using the money to pay his own rent and council tax for a period of time as his father left him the money for a reason.

If someone has money, it would be classed as deprivation if they gave it away, or invested it, for benefit purposes so he would lose out anyway as we would consider him to still have it and wouldn't pay HB or CTB.

IMHO, it would be morally wrong for the tax payer to fund his rent and council tax when he was in a position to pay these bills himself.

Don't want to sound unkind as I do see this a lot where people would like to provide for their kids but why should the tax payer pay for his rent when he can do it himself.

As I say, don't mean to offend and it is only my view but I am certain that if the HB / CTB department find out that he has given money away, he will lose benefit and could be worse off in the long run.

Dibbothe3rd

I understand all that and I certainly don't want him getting into trouble for not saying anything and still claiming benefits. just seems harsh that not only as my Grandad earnt this money all his life and paid his taxes, served in the war etc.. blah blah blah, only for the govt to get it all anyway.

If my dad could work he would, but due to cronic ashma, knackered liver and various other ailments, his is just not fit to work.

I suppose it would be different if he was 60.

karenx

So you would rather have it and spend it and the government keeps paying for his rent yeah????

Welshwoofs

The whole point of benefits is to give a safety net to those who have no income or significant savings to live off. If your Father inherits £50,000 he no longer needs the safety net the state provides and could either live off the income the money gives (if invested wisely) or live off the lump sum itself.

If he tries to give it away so he can continue to live off the state, it'll be counted as deprivation of capital and his benefits will be withdrawn anyway.

Dibbothe3rd

karenx wrote: »

So you would rather have it and spend it and the government keeps paying for his rent yeah????

lol...well the taxes I pay actually cover all his rent and benefits he gets so to be fair, you dont, if thats what your trying to get at. oh and as well all the taxes he has paid in his lifetime too.

I only asked for advice. dont need personal and emotional responses from people who just want to moan thanks.

krisskross

Dibbothe3rd wrote: »

lol...well the taxes I pay actually cover all his rent and benefits he gets so to be fair, you dont, if thats what your trying to get at. oh and as well all the taxes he has paid in his lifetime too.

I only asked for advice. dont need personal and emotional responses from people who just want to moan thanks.

You must earn an awful lot if you pay enough tax to cover all his benefits.

So i could assume you don't need your Granddad's money either.

alwaysonthego_2

Once he reaches 60 he could claim pension credits. Assuming he is single at the moment the rate is £130.00 per week.

If he has £50,000 in capital £10,000 is disregarded and it is tariffed at £1 for every £500. So therefore on £40000 he will get £80 deducted so he will still get £50 per week prnsion credit and will still get full CTB and LHA/HB despite the savings.

bunny999

Dibbothe3rd wrote: »

I understand all that and I certainly don't want him getting into trouble for not saying anything and still claiming benefits. just seems harsh that not only as my Grandad earnt this money all his life and paid his taxes, served in the war etc.. blah blah blah, only for the govt to get it all anyway.

If my dad could work he would, but due to cronic ashma, knackered liver and various other ailments, his is just not fit to work.

I suppose it would be different if he was 60.

THe government won't be getting the money your dad will. As your grandad was a decent bloke I am sure he wouldn't want his son to commit benefit fraud
If he is getting contributary benefits we will still be entitled to them.

bunny999

Dibbothe3rd wrote: »

lol...well the taxes I pay actually cover all his rent and benefits he gets so to be fair, you dont, if thats what your trying to get at. oh and as well all the taxes he has paid in his lifetime too.

I only asked for advice. dont need personal and emotional responses from people who just want to moan thanks.

You must be earning a massive amount if you are paying anywhere near the amount that your Dad is costing the state. Given his medical conditions alone he must have cost the tax payers a fortune.

Deprivation of assests is also known as fraud and it is a crime.