Benefits and an inheritance

Surfer

Thanks Whiteknight.

viktory

£3600 for a suite, some cabinets and a bed!! Wow. Trust me, deprivation of capital is taken very seriously. One of my customers has fallen foul of this rule and had has benefit slashed.

Oldernotwiser

Whiteknight wrote: »

Just inform Pension Credit that your savings increased due to an inheritance and that you have spent the money, they will ask for evidence of the money being paid and how the money has been spent. Copies of bank statements and receipts will be asked for and you can write a note to say where the money has gone and why.

They will check to see that the money has actually gone and will make a decision as to whether you have purposefully spent the money in order to keep the benefit. Worse case scenario is that they class you as still having some of the money and it reduces your entitlement - with Pension Credit anything below £10,000 would not be counted anyway.

The OP is also claiming HB and CTB where the threshold is £6,000

paddedjohn

surfer wrote: »

recently my spouse inherited £21,000 from her mother about 6 weeks ago. This amount was unexpected. I am on pension credit plus dla. My spouse is on esa higher rate as she has gone through the atos medical. We also receive housing and council tax benefits.
We used approximately £8400 to pay off debts some of which were old and in arrears.
My wife then bought a lounge suite plus some cabinets as the current ones are several years old and were second hand when originally purchased. The new suite has a riser / recliner which will assist my disability. Also a new bed was purchased as we were desperate for one and the current one inflamed my condition. This set her back altogether £3600.
We have also had a small patio built at the back and it is now level with the kitchen floor so no steps for me to negotiate. Finally we have decided to give up the motability car as before the inheritance we were battling to make ends meet on our joint income. We now intend to buy a second hand vehicle for about £4000 which is more suited to our needs.
up to a few days we had no idea that there could be an issue with benefits because as far as we were concerned after paying off the debts and buying what we reagrded as necessary items our savings would be under £6000.
We want to do the correct thing but would appreciate some advcie regarding the benefit / inheritance issue. Thanks for any input.

you say you had no idea that there would be an issue with your benefits but you still managed to spirit your cash away so you only had 6k left, sounds very convenient.

Morglin

You need to inform the agencies, who, generally, are pretty ok with debts being paid off out of assets (unless the rules have changed, and I don't think they have).

They will make a decsion on how essential any furniture items may be, and I wouldn't buy a car until you have checked.

You may be ok, because of your disability, although you might need to show that you *needed* the items, patio alterations and need the car.

Because of your age, £10,000 is the threshold.

Lin

Oldernotwiser

redbu wrote: »

sorry but I think you will find that it is £10,000 for over 60's. Then £1 per £500

OK, thanks for the correction.

Kimitatsu

The deprivation of assets rule rules that there cannot be excessive spending on items which are deemed a luxury, and ultimately the only people who can make that decision are the relevant govt departments.

I would contact them all, explain what you bought and why they were needed, so a new matress is not unreasonable, levelling the patio off is not unreasonable. Had you gone to the seychelles for 12 weeks then that would count as deprivation of capital.

Sueinbirmingham

Would anyone mind if I asked a question here? What if what you inherit isn't money, but things? I inherited some household stuff like toiletries, paperbacks, pullovers etc. Would I be expected to sell them, for example on ebay, to raise the money, or is it ok to acquire things as opposed to money? If you get a wedding ring back when someone dies, does that count as its monetary value or can you ignore its value and keep it as sentimental memories?

Kimitatsu

Hi Sue

No its only capital assets that count - so items such as a property, shares investments or a cash inheritence. For probate value all of those you have mentioned will have a tiny value and so are ignored.

Enjoy them and the memories they have

real1314

Surfer wrote: »

.
Finally we have decided to give up the motability car as before the inheritance we were battling to make ends meet on our joint income. We now intend to buy a second hand vehicle for about £4000 which is more suited to our needs.

As you receive DLA Mob to cover the cost of transport, they will almost certainly not allow any spending on a car.
Effectively if they did allow it, you would then have the cash from the DLA to spend on non-Mobility spending.

Have you actually informed DWP of the £21k yet?