Money left in will to pensioner

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Just dealt with a claimant in her 90s who sold her house in London and moved into a bungalow owned by her son - she still didn't understand would still get full PCGC and full Council Tax Support as her capital (£300k+) was disregarded.

A ludicrous waste of taxpayers cash that should be going to the needy and where the Government should be looking to cut the welfare budget.

Pollycat

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

Just dealt with a claimant in her 90s who sold her house in London and moved into a bungalow owned by her son - she still didn't understand would still get full PCGC and full Council Tax Support as her capital (£300k+) was disregarded.

A ludicrous waste of taxpayers cash that should be going to the needy and where the Government should be looking to cut the welfare budget.

I'm not saying I disagree with this but the reality is that, as things stand, there is entitlement to this benefit.

Personally, I'd prefer the Government to look at ways to stop fraudulent benefit claims first to cut the welfare budget.

martinsurrey

My first advice would be to spend it on herself, a once in a lifetime cruise around the world should get rid of most of it.

second advice, if she has no need or want of it (and not just pushed into it by relatives) would be to do a variation of the will to give the cash straight to the grandchildren. That way, legally, the money was never hers so will have zero effect on everything.

Pollycat

martinsurrey wrote: »

My first advice would be to spend it on herself, a once in a lifetime cruise around the world should get rid of most of it.

second advice, if she has no need or want of it (and not just pushed into it by relatives) would be to do a variation of the will to give the cash straight to the grandchildren. That way, legally, the money was never hers so will have zero effect on everything.

The OP needs to find out if her Aunty has an Assessed Income Period (AIP).

If she has, she won't 'need to get rid of the money' or give it away - receipt of £35,000 will have zero effect on her benefits.

Pollycat wrote: »

As previously discussed, if you are in receipt of Guaranteed Pension Credit and have an Assessed Income Period, even if you win £10,000,000 on the lottery it will not affect your benefits until the end of the AIP so nobody will ask to see your bank statements.

Mojisola

martinsurrey wrote: »

My first advice would be to spend it on herself, a once in a lifetime cruise around the world should get rid of most of it.

second advice, if she has no need or want of it (and not just pushed into it by relatives) would be to do a variation of the will to give the cash straight to the grandchildren. That way, legally, the money was never hers so will have zero effect on everything.

If she doesn't have an AIP, both these suggestions are very bad advice.

Both would be considered deprivation of capital and she could then lose entitlement to her benefits.

If she did a deed of variation, of course the money was hers legally - she couldn't give it to someone else if it wasn't hers in the first place.

martinsurrey

Mojisola wrote: »

If she doesn't have an AIP, both these suggestions are very bad advice.

Both would be considered deprivation of capital and she could then lose entitlement to her benefits.

If she did a deed of variation, of course the money was hers legally - she couldn't give it to someone else if it wasn't hers in the first place.

my bad sorry, I forgot that the variation only avoids the structure in respect of capital gains tax and inheritance tax.

ignore me, I'm going mad and stupid.

Mojisola

martinsurrey wrote: »

ignore me, I'm going mad and stupid.

Temporary, I'm sure!

bengal-stripe

Pollycat wrote: »

The OP needs to find out if her Aunty has an Assessed Income Period (AIP).

OP hasn't returned to this site after the initial posting.

Until s/he gives us some facts about her aunt's benefit position, it is futile to discuss what the beneficiary could or could not do with the cash.

Pollycat

bengal-stripe wrote: »

OP hasn't returned to this site after the initial posting.

Until s/he gives us some facts about her aunt's benefit position, it is futile to discuss what the beneficiary could or could not do with the cash.

The OP may have visited the site as a guest and that wouldn't show up on his/her profile. :cool:

So any advice to check if the aunt has a AIP isn't really futile. Is it?

bengal-stripe

Pollycat wrote: »

So any advice to check if the aunt has a AIP isn't really futile. Is it?

No, in deed it's very good advice and not futile at all. I suggested it three days ago

bengal-stripe wrote: »

Check on her benefit notification letter (send out in March) whether an AIP exists.

As the OP did not even post, that s/he would check it out, one can only presume OP is not interested (any more).

It wouldn't be the first thread on this forum, abandoned by it's OP.