how to get rid of your savings so you can get council tax benifits

jocan

my mother in law has sold her house because she could not afford the upkeep and maintanence of it .She now lives in a council flat and pays full rent because she has savings of over £16000 the chap next door only pays£16.00 a week because he has savings less than £16000 is there any thing we can do to get her savings down to below £16000 such a give children and grandchildren gifts of money if so how much money can you give a year ? thankyou

anselld

No, that would be classed as "deprivation of assets".

jocan

Thankyou anselld I
tought that was mainly to do with when family members go into nursing homes.

McKneff

No, it is called 'deprivation of assets' you cannot give money away to relatives in order to get means tested benefits and
cant believe that you are on here asking us to help you milk the benefit system, us, the very people who are the taxpayers who pay for these benefits.

Nuff said

jocan

Thankyou Anselld I thought that was mainly to do with family members when going into nursing homes.

bobthedambuilder

And what happens in the future when your mother needs the money. Don't tell me ... the family will give it back ... NOT!

My OH has a distant relative (a widow) who was very well off, own house and all the rest of it, who decided to sell up and give the money to her 2 daughters. She was treated OK for a while, shuttled between the 2 daughters, then the daughters found things to do with the money (like buying houses abroad to live) and left the old dear back in the UK with nothing. She's now living alone on benefits in a poxy little flat, and sees her daughters once or twice a year.

I'm not saying that would happen to your mother, but it's not a route to go down, even with the best of intentions. Let her keep her money. Benefits are for those who don't have, not for those who do.

Blackdog

jocan wrote: »

my mother in law has sold her house because she could not afford the upkeep and maintanence of it .She now lives in a council flat and pays full rent because she has savings of over £16000 the chap next door only pays£16.00 a week because he has savings less than £16000 is there any thing we can do to get her savings down to below £16000 such a give children and grandchildren gifts of money if so how much money can you give a year ? thankyou

Your Mother In Law would have to use her savings for general living expenses and at the point her savings were below the threashold then she could apply for benefits. If she gave the money away to get below the threashold then she would not be entitled to the benefit. The benefit system is there to provide for people who have low savings and income not for those who aspire to be poor in order to claim.

tescobabe69

Introduce her to gambling, heavy drinking and exotic holidays, and me.

Do you have a photo ?

jocan

Blackdog wrote: »

Your Mother In Law would have to use her savings for general living expenses and at the point her savings were below the threashold then she could apply for benefits. If she gave the money away to get below the threashold then she would not be entitled to the benefit. The benefit system is there to provide for people who have low savings and income not for those who aspire to be poor in order to claim.

She does now use the money for her living expenses as her pention does not cover all of her bills .

jocan

Just seems pointless working all your life to have savings and then having to spend it on your household bills and food because her pention only covers the rent.

le_loup

jocan wrote: »

Just seems pointless working all your life to have savings and then having to spend it on your household bills and food because her pention only covers the rent.

Or is it that you would like the money yourself?
This is a money saving website, not a place for ideas to scam society!