my mum inherited a house while on income support

smellyelle109

basiclly my mum inherited a house which is in disrepair ,it had a fire and she managed to get windows put in,there in no bath room no kitchen,no pluming no electric,she was left this house because her mother and father were not on speaking terms so he left it to my mum,but it is still her mothers although not on paper.
she was on income support and they have stopped her benefit,she is careing for my nan and is a carer and she is only getting about £50 a week which is nothing to live on.
can any one enlighten me please my mother is in great stress she is old and my nan is 80 odd.
please to all the tax payers who think this is unfare please dont have a go at this posting i am asking for advice please can some help my mum??
thanks

dmg24

You have not actually asked a question?

smellyelle109

my mum was on income support and inherited a house from her father ,her income support has been stopped,the house is in disrepair and is unliveable,my mother is a carer for my nan and has only £50 to live off,??
any advise please look at my first posting many thanks

shegirl

smellyelle109 wrote: »

my mum was on income support and inherited a house from her father ,her income support has been stopped,the house is in disrepair and is unliveable,my mother is a carer for my nan and has only £50 to live off,??
any advise please look at my first posting many thanks

So,do you want the question to be 'What can she do about this situation?'

dmg24

Sell the house for it's market value. Live off the sale proceeds until back to below the relevant capital levels.

baza52

if it has no plumbing, electrics, kitchen or bathroom then it is surely a shed or barn?
What do you mean? Your mum has inherited the house but its your nans but not on paper?

Freddie_Snowbits

Numptie I bough house off once was a dear old 97 year old, she died in care shortly afters. Her only son did not want it and lived in a council.

Absolute treasure trove and bargain was that. Poor lass still had active Current Account, which paid gas and electric for well over 18 months (Numptie son failed to get her account stopped and gas and leckie would not let me change, they were being paid!!!)

Sold it for twice what we paid, new lass bought it and she still lives there!!!!!!!

(I could never understand why the Numptie son did not want it)

ceridwen

I'm rather unclear as to what you are actually saying....

Could you phrase it more clearly please?

I THINK what you are saying is:
- My mum inherited a house from her father
- The house is in a terrible state and not even livable in
- Her income is just £50 per week Income Support
- She is a carer for my grandmother (ie her mother).
- My mothers' Income Support has been stopped (presumably because she now owns that house and is therefore deemed to have more than £6,000 capital?).
- The house was your grandfathers originally. It should have been left by rights to his wife (ie your grandmother) - but he actually left it to your mother (because he had fallen out with his wife).
- Your mother feels the house is rightfully her mothers' house - but she is the legal owner of it (because of grandad leaving it to his daughter - rather than his wife).

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If I am correct in what I think you are saying - then:

1. Could your mother get Carers Allowance (whatever that benefit is actually called) because she is caring for her mother.
(I don't think that is means-tested and she would therefore be allowed to keep the house - without it impacting on her income).

2. I believe one has a 6 month period after inheriting a house in this way to sell it and that, during that period, the house isn't taken into account as "capital" and your mother would therefore be eligible to continue receiving Income Support anyway?

3. What does your mother wish to do with the house? Is she trying to get it "done up" and sell it? Assuming she has decided to sell it - are you saying that she has decided to give the house sale money to her mother or keep the money herself (because she was the one Grandad actually left the house to)?

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O.P. - have I understood what you are saying correctly?

Everyone else - Perhaps you could confirm whether I am correct about Carers Allowance and being allowed to keep a house for 6 months anyway (without it being deemed to be "capital").

stephief

Hi,

I am guessing they have stopped her income support as she now has capital of over what she is allowed to claim. It doesnt matter who the house really belongs to, if on paper it is your mums, that is what counts for benefits purposes. Best thing she can do is try to sell it as it is and live off the proceeds. If she is on benefits anyway she will probably never have the money to pay to get it fixed up anyway.

kingfisherblue

Ceridwen, I think the £50 a week that the OP is getting is Carer's Allowance because her Income Support has been stopped.

The only option that I can see is for the OP to sell the house and live off the capital until she is below the limits for benefits, as other posters have said.

terryw

Just a thought here. It is certainly possible to refuse an inheritance, but I would imagine that in this type of case that this would still be considered "deprivation of capital" for income support purposes.