DVLA, income support and inheritance

aeronaparry

Hi
May I start by thanking members of this forum for previously helping me claim back 700 pounds in ppi payments last year. All the advice I used came from this forum . Thankyou.
Although I've searched the forum I found nothing that is applicable advice to my case so if there is a post with the same question, and answer may I apologise in advance for placing this in the wrong place.
I'm a married, 41 year young Mother of 2 children, my Husband is currently unemployed but supports me fully with the caring of our children, it isn't easy as I'm disabled and am currently on DVLA. We're in rented accomodation.
My Mother and Father worked most of their lives to provide a good start for their children (three of us). We sadly lost my Dad 2 years ago, and my Mam just recently passed away. Both my Brothers are working in well paid jobs but as I previously stated, I sadly am not. My Mother left the house equally to the three of us, we're all executors of the will. I'd love nothing more than to move into the old Family home but it has lots of steps leading to the house front and back so will be unable to leave the house. Although their working,
neither of my Brothers are in a position to help financialy as they also have their own Familys and Mortgages so, reluctantly, we have to sell.
A close friend has worried me because they pointed out that I'm only allowed to have £6000-00 savings before it affects the amount of benefit I receive. If the house sells for the asking price we were hoping to split 60,000 between the three of us. I'm worried that as it's well above the limit my housing benefit will stop, together with my income support and dvla. I've worked and paid tax for most of my life, as has my husband. My physician has told me that following
the next operation (7 weeks time) I'll need 18months to fully recuperate so I can get back to work. Please tell me if my fears are correct :-

01 - lose mother to cancer
02 - financial circumstances force sale of family home
03 - receive 20,000 pounds for my share of home
04 - All benefits stopped or greatly reduced as I own more than the threshold
05 - for 18 months (or sooner) my inheritance, all I have left to start my
childrens education, will rapidly dwindle away to nothing.
06 - I return back to work, resuming the rent payments.
07 - In 5 years time when my eldest son wants to study in University,
I have to tell him we cannot afford it.

Please help, I'm not greedy and I understand that limits have to be set to make the
system as fair as possible but I feel as if I'm the victim of some really badly timed
events, as if the events themselves weren't devastating enough.

Yours hopefully,

Aerona x

[Deleted User]

Is it DLA your getting? Savings don't effect this so that should continue. I have no knowledge of income support but I know housing benefit reduces if you have savings over 6000 but stops if you have savings over 16000. I understand why you feel hard done by and I don't think you are greedy but benefits are there (or should be in my opinion) for the most needy who have no other means of paying their way. Many people on such benefits will never see 6000 in their live never mind 20000. Maybe someone else can advice you further, Direct Gov is a useful source of infomation. Good luck.

jewelly

Your son should still be able to go to university. I am on a low income and am unable to contribute to my son's education. But he is in his 3rd year of uni having taken out student loans and received maintenance grants each year. So, hopefully, that's one worry off your mind. Sorry I cannot advise on the other aspects.

PS My son also gets a bursary from his uni

seven-day-weekend

DLA will not be affected at all. Your Rent/Council Tax and Income support will be, as these are means-tested benefits. Above £16k and these will stop altogether. However, as you get down below £16k you can apply again and you may be eligible for a reduced amount of these Benefits. Once your money gets below £6000 you will be entitled to full benefits again.

Your husband may be able to get a job soon and you probably would be off the means-tested Benefits anyway then.

I'm afraid that means-tested benefits are for those who don't have the means. You will have the means. And if you had not had the inheritance you still would not have had £20k to send your children to Uni, would you?

You are not being victimised, you will be treated exactly the same as anyone else with a large inheritance.

Oldernotwiser

Although you cannot splurge on expensive holidays, gifts etc without its being considered deprivation of capital, you are allowed reasonable expenditure as well as living costs. This could be a good time to make adaptations in your home with money you don't usually have,

I'm sure you don't expect your husband to still be unemployed in 18 months so that will also take you away from means tested benefits.

Look at the positives in the situation rather than seeing it all as negative.

morledge142

we were in a simlary siutiaotn when our psot office closed. although we weree left iwht large debt of over £100,000 from failed business and repossession of property (post office - no income not able to pay mortgage) ,

we had to live on redundunadcy and not getr benefits until we had spent it all and got jobs. then still left with some debt and repossess property.

nobody will let you just stash a load of money as a windfall it does not work like that. you have to pay your way in life.

it is hard for all of us. but as said you only get benefits if you need them and you won;t regardless of if family worked hard.

we did but you pay up and start again.

aeronaparry

Thank you all so much for the replies.

joannenotts,
Thankyou for the reply.

jewelly,
Thankyou for the reply.

seven-day-weekend,
I didn't put it in my original post as
it was getting rather long winded but may I add that my
parents and I foolishly thought that instead of putting a
small amount away each week for their grandchildrens future
it would be better served if I put my name on the mortgage
to allow my parents to purchase the family home as their
financial status didn't allow that amount of unsecured credit.
Both my brothers were already tied to mortgages so was unable
to help. They were both considered too old for a mortgage by the time I hit my 28th birthday. I worked all the hours god sent until my son arrived, when I had to revert back to normal 9-30 4-00 flexitime.
I continued to work until a vertebrae cracked in my lower back june 2010,
I've been on dvla since.

Molly41,
I'm so sorry I made you cross, I can imagine that it may seem that
I'm wanting my cake and eating it but it's more of a case of trying
to help my mam and dad to purchase their home, didn't really have to tie myself down to a mortgage at that stage in my life but I thought of it as an investment, not somthing to make lots of profit from, but somthing that wouldn't become de-valued because of some suit 'n' tie guy in the stock exchange's purchasing whims. In retrospect it would've been far better to save it up as cash and put it away each week in a fireproof safe, under the floorboards or somthing. I am proud of being able to support myself, under normal circumstances I do but as I said earlier at the moment I cannot. I also didn't mention that I have an overdraft with the bank for 4800 which leaves roughly 15000.
I payed nearly 26500 into the mortgage over the years and I'm hurting enough with losing my best friend, my mam, and losing the home together with all my memories of growing up there I was just wondering if there was a way to safeguard as much as I can.

Thankyou Oldernotwiser I do try.

totitma,
I come from a family of hard working class people, coal miners and slate quarry workers so I am more than familier with the poverty you speak of, I've felt it firsthand, so are my children. We live one day to the next, We do have food on the table, because I work hard, I've never not worked, even when I attended college I only did it because I was lucky enough to be able to make my hours up working from home. I've always paid tax, only the last 6 months have I relied on benefit to keep food on the table and gas/electricity for heat and cooking. It saddens me greatly that it appears to people that I have no morals I'm simply trying to plan for the future and safeguard my children, my husband is 9 years older than I and has emphasema. We would like nothing more than for him to return to work but sadly his tradeskills, learnt over 25 years of work don't provide the skills for that relative industry anymore. Although his health is in decline he's re-training to use computers, currently a volunteer for a local scheme to get pensioners upto speed on the web. His job entails visiting people at home and helping them understand the basics of computers so we are hoping the experience will pay off.

May I thank you all again for your speedy replies
Love and respect, Aerona x

MrsManda

aeronaparry wrote: »

it was getting rather long winded but may I add that my
parents and I foolishly thought that instead of putting a
small amount away each week for their grandchildrens future
it would be better served if I put my name on the mortgage
to allow my parents to purchase the family home as their

Your name is on your parents mortgage? Does this mean you paid into the mortgage as well as your parents?

tomitma

I really can not see what your question now is, you asked if you had to declare your inheritance, you were given the answer, now you have brought further facts to light, that drop you further into the quagmire, if you were paying part of the morgage, you obviously own part of the house, and yet you are claiming housing benefit and council tax for the house you are renting.

What exactly is your question?


It may soon come to pass that you won't have any money to worry about, because you may have to pay it all back to the benefit agency.

This happened to a neighbour of mine, who partly owned his mothers house, when the house was sold all the housing benefit, and council tax that had been claimed by him, whilst he was renting privately, had to be repaid, as he had not at any time notified the agency that he had a monetary interest in his mums house.

I still can not understand what your question is, although a bit of advice to you would be, that you can not get a correct answer, unless you give all the facts, it is pointless adding later, that you had a morgage with your parents, when your first question was about inheritance. And IF IT WOULD AFFECT YOUR HOUSING BENEFIT!!!!!

seven-day-weekend

Aerona, I am really sorry for your loss.

I'm not sure I understand the set-up either, it now seems as if Aerona has owned a share of a house whilst claiming Housing Benefit for another one.:eek:

All I can say is to repeat what I said earlier, that if you have £20k in capital, whether that be in a house that is not your home, cash, Premium Bonds, ISAs, a box under the bed etc, you will not be entitled to means-tested benefits.

As for working until recently, no-one has suggested anything otherwise, but that is nothing to do with whether your capital is above the limit or not.

Oldernotwiser

I can't see how your mother can have left the whole house to you and your brothers if you already own part of it. How have you been paying your share of the mortgage while you have been on benefits?

I'm sorry but this sounds like a financial mess with lots of repercussions.