What happens if someone dies while in receipt of benefits and leaves £30k in savings?

PrincessJR

Hi,

What would happen if someone elderly who had always received housing benefit, had been saving all their lives (90+ yrs) and have between 20-30k in savings when they died?

Would the government take it all? Or are you allowed savings?

Mojisola

The DWP will ask for any overpayment to be repaid.

daska

The upper savings limit for HB is £16K and anything above £8K(?) would have reduced what was paid as well. I suspect that the DWP will want money back.

There may be an exception to this if, for instance, the money was loaned for the lifetime use of the deceased under the terms of a trust, in which case it would be the trust who would need to be re-paid.

sleepless_saver

Was the person receiving guarantee pension credit? If so, the £16K limit does not apply and there may not be an overpayment.

If there is an overpayment, then the executor is going to have to spend time getting hold of old bank statements and providing DWP with info so they can calculate how much the overpayment is.

PrincessJR

Thank you for your replies. Im not sure about the guarantee pension credit?never heard of it. We are, as a family worried that when my Grandmother dies, we will have a huge problem sorting out her finances. She wont discuss it with anyone, as is, Im afraid now losing her 'marbles' and so we cannot arrange a Power Of Attorney.
Does anyone know of a way we can begin looking after her finances and get this mess sorted out?

daska

IF she is no longer capable you can apply to the office of the public guardian to act as her deputy, but she'd have to be assessed as to whether she has capability by her doctor etc. And you could ring the HB dept and they will start the process for you. At least the debt won't be building up further. However it may result in her being pursued for the money which could be distressing for her. I think your best bet is to take all her paperwork to the CAB and get some specific advice. Not least of which should be to start with a check of what benefits she should/not be claiming.

sleepless_saver

daska wrote: »

. I think your best bet is to take all her paperwork to the CAB and get some specific advice. Not least of which should be to start with a check of what benefits she should/not be claiming.

CAB shouldn't deal with this if they don't have your grandmother's consent.

You need to decide whether there will be more problems caused if you wait until she passes, or tackle this now by speaking to the local council. If there is an overpayment then the council will obviously want to get it back.

You would also need to know if she is getting other benefits - pension credit as I mentioned above - as that might need to be sorted out too.

She may still be OK to agree PoA - worth having a word with her doctor to get their view. It would be a lot simpler and cheaper than the alternative.

daska

Sorry, I was intending that they take Grandmother as well, should have spelled that out maybe.

PrincessJR

thanks for your advice everyone. I will attempt a chat with other family members and see where we go.
much appreciated

ericonabike

Or you could simply leave well alone. If your grandmother is receiving benefits to which she should not be entitled because of capital, then the DWP will recover this from the estate. The process is [almost] automatic as they have second claim on the estate [after HMRC] and automatically liaise with the Probate office after the death of any claimant [assuming the system hasn't changed since I last worked there]. If you think an attempt to resolve the issue now would be unduly distressing for grandma, then perhaps doing nothing would be your best option. The end result would be the same, in that any overpayment would be recovered from the estate.

Mojisola

PrincessJR wrote: »

She wont discuss it with anyone, as is, Im afraid now losing her 'marbles'

ericonabike wrote: »

Or you could simply leave well alone. If your grandmother is receiving benefits to which she should not be entitled because of capital, then the DWP will recover this from the estate.

If Grandmother has dementia, at some point she will need someone to deal with her affairs for her. That person, as POA or Deputy, will need to sort the benefits claim out.