Unemployed but with savings

Mojisola

jlawrence wrote: »

Hi Dippy, you can, Rogerblack on here said to me that it is quite legal to hide your capital from the DWP as long as you put it in a trust.

No, he didn't.

Quote -
If you have money - ever - and put it into trust - (unless it's from a personal injury to you, and done at the time of settlement ) then you are likely to be treated as still having that money - because you chose to put it beyond use.

If you are bequeathed money from your mother, and put it into trust - same applies.
You have the legal freedom to spend it on anything - it's capital.

If however, your mother chooses to set up a trust in her will to pay certain expenses for you directly, and you have no way of challenging this and getting access to the capital in the trust - then it does not count - simply as you have no access to the capital.

If you have ever had legal access to the capital - it is in general impossible to conceal it by putting it in a trust, if the purpose of that action was to obtain (more) benefit.

dippy3103

jlawrence wrote: »

Hi Dippy, you can, Rogerblack on here said to me that it is quite legal to hide your capital from the DWP as long as you put it in a trust.

Not sure he did....

nannytone_2

RAS wrote: »

Ader1

It depends when you paid NI contributions as your current entitlement is based on what you paid in during 12/13 and 13/14 tax years I think.

The other complication may be that you may be hit by the new rules on people who have lived outside the UK claiming which became increasingly strict in January and March this year.

Check out the habitual residence test.

it is based on the tax years 11/12 and 12/13 currently. it changes in january and reflects the previous 2 FULL tax years

whatthefunk

So what if you transferred a lump sum into a personal pension you already have set up. Would that still be considered as capital deprivation?

jlawrence

whatthefunk wrote: »

So what if you transferred a lump sum into a personal pension you already have set up. Would that still be considered as capital deprivation?

Hi !!!!!!, a good question. Maybe the answer is the same as paying off your mortgage early - it is not allowed. You would only be allowed to pay what you have normally paid in the past. But I would be very interested in the answer as I have a small pension scheme of £20 a month that I pay into and £100,000 in a bank savings account.

Mojisola

whatthefunk wrote: »

So what if you transferred a lump sum into a personal pension you already have set up. Would that still be considered as capital deprivation?

If you do it after you know that you will need or are likely to need means tested benefits, yes it would.

whatthefunk

Mojisola wrote: »

If you do it after you know that you will need or are likely to need means tested benefits, yes it would.

So how about if someone did it now and then claimed benefits next year? What would be the likely timescale?

Mojisola

whatthefunk wrote: »

So how about if someone did it now and then claimed benefits next year? What would be the likely timescale?

It's not the timescale but the knowledge.

If you are in what looks like a secure job and have no expectation of needing means tested benefits, you can do what you like with your money.

If you know there will be redundancies or your health is deteriorating or that you've done something that will result in dismissal or know of some other reason why you may need to claim means tested benefits and you still get rid of money, you can be assessed as if you still have it.

whatthefunk

Confusing ain't it!

tomtom256

whatthefunk wrote: »

Confusing ain't it!

Not with the advice given here.