PLEASE HELP urgent advice required regarding property and benefits.

bloolagoon

lindsey3uk wrote: »

Just to add, I don't want to take the money out of the flat to give to my children. Id rather it stayed there and I trust it will be theirs when the time comes. My point is if I am forced to sell I will have to use the money to live on as will he. If I was able to just sign it over to him I know the money would still be there but I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Problem is now they are taking this stance they could decide you gave him the money (read notional capital).

lindsey3uk

If he is completely unwilling to sell would this not fall under disregarded capital? Also because our children live there part time he cannot sell as they will not have anywhere to stay?

Caz3121

lindsey3uk wrote: »

If he is completely unwilling to sell would this not fall under disregarded capital? Also because our children live there part time he cannot sell as they will not have anywhere to stay?

A small studio flat is unlikely to be deemed suitable accommodation for housing an adult and three children so I doubt he will be able to use the fact that the children live there part time as a reason not to sell. If sold he would also have a share of the equity to be able to rent something more suitable

stevemLS

I imagine the benefits system would see it as you seeking state support when you at least in theory have the means to support yourself for a time.

pmlindyloo

The problem is that this should have been sorted out when you separated.

Why aren't you getting a divorce?

You cannot 'give away' assets especially when you are claiming benefits.

You have been receiving your benefits because they have given you time to sort this out. You have failed to do so.

it is possible that they will give you longer if you can show that you are sorting this out. Taking your name of the deeds is not going to work.

You have to come to a decision about your assets . As to what they are you will need to get this sorted out legally.

I am not qualified to give legal advice but in your circumstances, since your name cannot be taken off the mortgage, then it seems to me that you have no other option than to sell the property and to split the assets in a fair way. (Remember you cannot give your share 'away' because you are claiming benefits - it would be treated as notional capital - as if you still had it)

Get yourself to a solicitor promptly and get him to write a letter saying that you are moving forward to get a settlement as regards the house. Plus, get the house on the market asap.

Hopefully, once you present this evidence, this will be enough to give you some breathing space as regards your benefits.

NYM

lindsey3uk wrote: »

If he is completely unwilling to sell would this not fall under disregarded capital? Also because our children live there part time he cannot sell as they will not have anywhere to stay?

This is a matter that you both need to sort and if he refuses, you can get a Court to force the sale.

His unwillingness to sell is not sufficient grounds to enable you to be entitled to HB. It's been disregarded for at least 26 weeks and that should have been adequate time to sort out your financial situation.

rogerblack

NYM wrote: »

This is a matter that you both need to sort and if he refuses, you can get a Court to force the sale.

His unwillingness to sell is not sufficient grounds to enable you to be entitled to HB. It's been disregarded for at least 26 weeks and that should have been adequate time to sort out your financial situation.

It depends - it may be.
In some circumstances, you can't compel an ex-partner to sell.
If this is the case, then the value of the property would be zero.

MissMoneypenny

epitome wrote: »

It is a myth that under UK law each party is allowed 50% of assets. I don't know all the facts but it is to be decided by a court, and I guess they go by things such as how much you contributed to the marriage and the assest (eg mortgage payments) and how the seperation has or will affect you. There is no guarantee on 50% each.

Has it changed recently? Under English and Welsh law, it use to be that all assets were counted i.e. savings, capital in property, collections of value, pension plans etc and then divided. The parent who had stayed at home to look after children then got the bigger % as their earnings potential had been affected by both parents choice for one to be a stay at home parent. It had nothing to do with who had how much before they were married, or the value of looking after children at home v which income paid the mortgage.

I think the law changed so that the stay at home parent could have a share of the other parents pension when they retired.

epitome wrote: »

Perhaps OP does not want to take half of the house from her ex (it certainly sounds like this is the case) she may feel that it is his house and she would not dream of taking any of it from him. Just like any other asset they have had like her car, his car, his guitar, his record collection etc.

They only get that choice if they don't want to claim benefits to keep themselves.

tomtontom

lindsey3uk wrote: »

Just to add, I don't want to take the money out of the flat to give to my children. Id rather it stayed there and I trust it will be theirs when the time comes. My point is if I am forced to sell I will have to use the money to live on as will he. If I was able to just sign it over to him I know the money would still be there but I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

I wouldn't trust that the money will definitely go to the children. What if he remarries and has more children, or he leaves it to his new wife?

GirlFromMars_2

When you told them about this property, did you do so in writing? Either a separate letter, or on the Housing Benefit Income forms?

Did they write back to tell you the property was disregarded for X weeks, or why the property was disregarded, or did they just start paying you benefit so you assumed the property didn't matter?

Have they asked you to pay back the HB you have already received, or have they just stopped your benefit from now? (If you don't have to pay it back then they must have disregarded the capital for a period)

When you say there's £18K capital in the property, is that just your share, or is that yours and your husband's share combined? If your capital in the property has changed since you informed them about it then you should let them know, especially if this brings your capital down to below £16K.

A property can be disregarded for 26 weeks if you are making an effort to sell it (or longer if appropriate) but it doesn't look like you were ever intending on selling it, so I'm not sure why it would have been disregarded.

It is possible that a divorce settlement would say you have no interest in the property, but I find that unlikely I'm afraid.

You cannot give capital to your husband, or children and expect to continue to receive means tested benefits. It is likely that you will need to sell the house and receive the capital.

It is probable that the solicitors wouldn't get involved for this reason, as they didn't want to help you give away capital.

I think you need to get clarification about why the property was disregarded previously, and ask why you weren't notified that there was a time limit on this. If you start to take reasonable steps to sell the property now, then it is possible they may consider extending the disregarded period so that you can sell the property.

In the mean time have you worked out what you are going to do to pay the rent?

I hope this works out for you.