Legal Guardian

ruthie84

Hi

Just looking for a bit of advice, I am living with my 2 sisters one in full time work and one is 16 still in full time education. Both our parents have passed away, it was a while ago now but this thought has just come up.... we never sorted out who is legal guardian of the youngest sister. What does this mean? Who is the legal guardian at the moment or does it not matter if shes over 16 or is it 18?

My concern is that not having sorted this if/when she goes to uni she won't be able to get help with the fees. At the moment we are doing fine and can afford to pay the bills etc but if the fees alone for uni will be going up to 7k a year we can't afford that! I know that they will help out with low income familys paying those fees so just wanted to find out where we stand.

Would she just have the option to put that both parents have passed away on the forms or do we need to sort who is the legal guardian?

Thanks

silvercar

Does someone claim child benefit for her? She would also possibly be entitled to EMA.

LJM

i think you need to get advice from someone qualified to help maybe CAB, they will be able to give you all info you need i am sorry to hear of your loss

easilydistracted

Hello Ruthie84
I take it that your parents did not have a will which made either of you your sisters legal guardian? If so then I'm pretty sure you would need to apply to the court if you wanted to get parental responsibility of your sister. However parental responsibility is not needed for much with 16 year olds.
With student finance, the current rules are that anyone who has no living parent counts as an independent student. I'm pretty sure this means that they are assessed on their fees on only their income or a person they are living with as a partner.
Here is a link on who counts as an independent student for student finance:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Gettingstarted/DG_171579
You might want to call them to confirm that the info I've given is correct:
0845 300 50 90 open 8 till 8 Mon to Fri and 9 till 5.30pm Sat and Sun.
I tried an online calculator also on the website and when I changed one of the answers to having no living parents the figures jumped higher and the calculator said noone would be expected to make a fees contribution.
I hope that's some use to you
easilydistracted

ruthie84

Thanks to everyone who replied already. Noone currently claims any benefits on behalf of her, we are managing to get by as we are just fine so not too bothered about that. Also nope noone was named legal guardian in the will.

Everything has been fine until I thought about the fees for uni (specially as they may be going up now), I don't want her to miss out on further education due to us not having the money, as long as we can get help to pay her fees that's fine.

I'll check with them that she would be able to claim as an independent student with no living parents.

Again thanks for the help everyone.

silvercar

ruthie84 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone who replied already. Noone currently claims any benefits on behalf of her, we are managing to get by as we are just fine so not too bothered about that. Also nope noone was named legal guardian in the will.

Everything has been fine until I thought about the fees for uni (specially as they may be going up now), I don't want her to miss out on further education due to us not having the money, as long as we can get help to pay her fees that's fine.

I'll check with them that she would be able to claim as an independent student with no living parents.

Again thanks for the help everyone.

Whereas it is fine that you are managing now, being a student is expensive and even if she gets the max loan available, this is often not enough to live off and of course does need repaying.

What I'm really saying is that child benefit is (currently) a universal benefit, everyone is entitled to it and you should claim it even if you put the money away to help her when she is at university.

If she is entitled to EMA she should be claiming it. Having lost both her parents at a young age is traumatic enough, you don't know when the money may come in useful in the future.

DX2

silvercar wrote: »

Does someone claim child benefit for her? She would also possibly be entitled to EMA.

EMA was scrapped in the Spending review on the 20th. Not sure when it will cease to be paid, but I certainly wouldn't count on this.

pigpen

DX2 wrote: »

EMA was scrapped in the Spending review on the 20th. Not sure when it will cease to be paid, but I certainly wouldn't count on this.

It is still being paid right now so just because it will stop being paid in the future doesn't mean it shouldn't be claimed now!! Ditto the child benefit.. it can all be saved in the bank until needed.

You can get free advice from a solicitor.. half an hour so it may be worth booking a few of these and speaking to someone in family law.

Savvy_Sue

pigpen wrote: »

It is still being paid right now so just because it will stop being paid in the future doesn't mean it shouldn't be claimed now!! Ditto the child benefit.. it can all be saved in the bank until needed.

Absolutely: if she is in Year 12 or 13 (ie post GCSE) then you should apply as soon as possible, because although it will be paid until the end of this school year, you've got to apply for it by December, not sure what date. So, only one year's worth, but definitely worth saving.

If she's still in Year 11, unfortunately this doesn't apply, but the Child Benefit is still available, and it's well worth having.

It's possible the school has an adviser who can help: your sister should have a Connexions adviser, this is the sort of problem they should be well placed to help with, IMO.

Oldernotwiser

Whatever the fees go up to she'll be eligible for a tuition fee loan like everybody else. Being assessed as an independent student will mean (or it does at the moment) that she'll get a grant as well as a loan.

Even if you only claim Child Benefit for her (and you might even be able to claim child tax credit) that's £20 per week and of you don't need it at present, it would be a nice little nest egg for her of £2,000 by the time she goes to university. It's really silly not to claim it.

Savvy_Sue

Actually I'm really surprised no-one mentioned the Child Benefit when your second parent first died. Was there no involvement from Social Services to check that the 3 of you were OK together?