Inheritance Gifts while on Benefits

mcpcoles

Hi All

My parents who are disabled survive on benefits that include housing benefit and disability. My grandmother has recently passed away and left 110K in her will of which my mother is the sole beneficary.

I looked after my grandmother for the past 10 years and it was her intention that I should receive 100K of this money which she had discussed with my mother although this was by word and not written into the will.

My mother is fine with this as this was my grandmothers wish but she is worried that her benefits will be stopped when the money is paid into her bank account.

I was under the impression that my mother gives me a cheque for the 100K and she informs the benefits agency that she has inherited 10K but she thinks that they will assume she has the whole amount still and that she has just gone and blown it to avoid declaring the whole amount.

Can anyone clarify this as this is causing her a great deal of worry.

Thanks

skcollobcat10

mcpcoles wrote: »

Hi All

My parents who are disabled survive on benefits that include housing benefit and disability. My grandmother has recently passed away and left 110K in her will of which my mother is the sole beneficary.

I looked after my grandmother for the past 10 years and it was her intention that I should receive 100K of this money which she had discussed with my mother although this was by word and not written into the will.

My mother is fine with this as this was my grandmothers wish but she is worried that her benefits will be stopped when the money is paid into her bank account.

I was under the impression that my mother gives me a cheque for the 100K and she informs the benefits agency that she has inherited 10K but she thinks that they will assume she has the whole amount still and that she has just gone and blown it to avoid declaring the whole amount.

Can anyone clarify this as this is causing her a great deal of worry.

Thanks

Look back on the hundreds of posts on the same kind of subject re: inheritance money.

You will find that your mother could possibly keep her disability money if it is DLA, but the housing benefit would stop and she would have to use HER inheritance money.

NASA_2

It is legally her money - if she gives it away to you then there is a real chance she will still be treated as having the money.

I've never understood why this scenario happens so often to people on benefits though - the dead person always left it to the wrong person by mistake and it really did have to be passed on to the other people. I'm just a cynic though.

[Deleted User]

mcpcoles wrote: »

Hi All

My parents who are disabled survive on benefits that include housing benefit and disability. My grandmother has recently passed away and left 110K in her will of which my mother is the sole beneficary.

I looked after my grandmother for the past 10 years and it was her intention that I should receive 100K of this money which she had discussed with my mother although this was by word and not written into the will.

My mother is fine with this as this was my grandmothers wish but she is worried that her benefits will be stopped when the money is paid into her bank account.

I was under the impression that my mother gives me a cheque for the 100K and she informs the benefits agency that she has inherited 10K but she thinks that they will assume she has the whole amount still and that she has just gone and blown it to avoid declaring the whole amount.

Can anyone clarify this as this is causing her a great deal of worry.

Thanks

if they give the money to you they will lose any means tested benefits due to deprivation of capital rules.

sarahg1969

Your mother doesn't need to worry. She'll be £110k better off. Even if her benefits stop, she'll manage, won't she?

AnxiousMum

What I don't understand is......if somebody claiming benefits of ANY kind inherits a sum of money that enables them to enjoy life a little, relieve some of the stress in their life regarding finances etc., why they are wondering how it will affect their benefits? Surely, being self sufficient and being able to get off of benefits is a good thing......unfortunately it comes with the death of a loved one, but surely people in that position remember the feeling of being able to live free of government handouts?
The handouts are there for WHEN NEEDED. If you have a large inheritance, then the handouts are no longer needed. I'm sure that the OP will get an inheritance when his parents pass on.

I can see the wills of the future 'I bequeath my entire estate to the various members of my family in order of their right to receive it, except those on means tested benefits as I don't wish them to lose their freebies'.

Your mum is right - she would be classed (for the means tested benefits) to have the money for a long, long time after having passed it onto you. People claiming meanstested benefits cannot really afford to give away that type of money can they?

andyandflo

mcpcoles wrote: »

Hi All

My parents who are disabled survive on benefits that include housing benefit and disability. My grandmother has recently passed away and left 110K in her will of which my mother is the sole beneficary.

I looked after my grandmother for the past 10 years and it was her intention that I should receive 100K of this money which she had discussed with my mother although this was by word and not written into the will.

My mother is fine with this as this was my grandmothers wish but she is worried that her benefits will be stopped when the money is paid into her bank account.

I was under the impression that my mother gives me a cheque for the 100K and she informs the benefits agency that she has inherited 10K but she thinks that they will assume she has the whole amount still and that she has just gone and blown it to avoid declaring the whole amount.

Can anyone clarify this as this is causing her a great deal of worry.

Thanks

My suggestion is to go and see a solicitor. They can draft a deed of assignment that varies the terms of the will. In other words, provided that all parties/beneficaries are happy that the will is varied in accordance with her wishes although not in the form of a codicil to the will, then it will be changed to whatever her verbal wishes were. £100k to you and £10k to your parents.

In those circumstances, and I will admit that I am a little sketchy on if this will solve your problem, the estate will be administered in accordance with the variation and not the original will. You would get your cheque and your parents, theirs.

Why don't you pass it by the CAB to get some advice.

It is the only way I can think (and I have used this procedure to avoid taxation problems in the past with great sucess), that you could get round the situation. By the way is a solicitor involved in the administration of the estate? If so, he would be your best bet.


I have no idea why so many people on here don't offer proper advice to help solve the question, instead of saying that you should lose your benefits. It's as though they have a active financial interest in getting as many people off benefits. They probably will say they have - they pay the taxes that funds the benefits. How sad are they or bitter maybe?

Good Luck and don't worry about the people on here having a pop at you.

seven-day-weekend

andyandflo wrote: »

My suggestion is to go and see a solicitor. They can draft a deed of assignment that varies the terms of the will. In other words, provided that all parties/beneficaries are happy that the will is varied in accordance with her wishes although not in the form of a codicil to the will, then it will be changed to whatever her verbal wishes were. £100k to you and £10k to your parents.

In those circumstances, and I will admit that I am a little sketchy on if this will solve your problem, the estate will be administered in accordance with the variation and not the original will. You would get your cheque and your parents, theirs.

Why don't you pass it by the CAB to get some advice.

It is the only way I can think (and I have used this procedure to avoid taxation problems in the past with great sucess), that you could get round the situation. By the way is a solicitor involved in the administration of the estate? If so, he would be your best bet.


I have no idea why so many people on here don't offer proper advice to help solve the question, instead of saying that you should lose your benefits. It's as though they have a active financial interest in getting as many people off benefits. They probably will say they have - they pay the taxes that funds the benefits. How sad are they or bitter maybe?

Good Luck and don't worry about the people on here having a pop at you.

People ARE giving proper advice. It's not a matter of SHOULD lose the Benefits. If they inherit £100k then they WILL lose the Benefits. Even if they then give it away to whoever it was 'really' intended for, although the deceased person never said this in their will..

I too like Anxious Mum above have never understood why someone is not delighted at their good fortune and the chance to be off means-tested Benefits, if only for a while. However, that might mean they have to pay their own Council Tax.

bestpud

What would happen if you suddenly found yourself needing to claim benefits? :cool:

I'm always shocked how bloody calculating people can be when a family member passes away and there is an inheritance!

seven-day-weekend

bestpud wrote: »

What would happen if you suddenly found yourself needing to claim benefits? :cool:

I'm always shocked how bloody calculating people can be when a family member passes away and there is an inheritance!

If I needed to claim benefits and was entitled to them then I would claim.

The point is, if someone inherits £100k, then they are NOT entitled to means-tested benefits, although of course they can keep things like sickness and disability Benefits, which are not means-tested.

Yes of course it's a pain in the backside to have to spend your inheritance on things like rent and Council Tax, but means-tested Benefits are there for those who do not have the means to pay - not for those with £100k sitting in the bank.

Oldernotwiser

andyandflo wrote: »

I have no idea why so many people on here don't offer proper advice to help solve the question, instead of saying that you should lose your benefits. It's as though they have a active financial interest in getting as many people off benefits. They probably will say they have - they pay the taxes that funds the benefits. How sad are they or bitter maybe?

Good Luck and don't worry about the people on here having a pop at you.

Deeds of variation work for taxation purposes but thy don't in the case of benefits and deprivation of capital. That's why nobody has recommended this strategy.

From the Elderly Client Advisor website -

"Although the deed of variation is a convenient way of sorting matters out for clients who never quite got round to making tax-efficient wills in their lifetime, it is not a particularly useful method of dealing with benefits problems. The reason for that is that a beneficiary who signs a deed of variation is sending their share of an estate to another individual or to a trust and could, quite rightly, be treated by the benefits agency as having committed a deprivation of benefit. That would mean that the benefits agency could assess them as still owning the money that they have given away under the deed and reduce or even stop their benefits accordingly. "

You are not only a crook but also a singularly ill informed one.