Help for neighbour

Lleucu

Hi, I wanted to post this one in the CAB forum but could not see the right section, so thought you could help.

A aged about 40 has an acquired brain injury due to an RTA at age 18. He drives, does therapeutic work, claims DLA and a small amount of income support. He lives with his mother P aged 81. As far as I can tell, he has the capacity to run his own affairs though he is a bit forgetful.

His mother is very worried about securing her house so that he has a roof over his head. She is concerned that if she leaves the house to him, it might affect his income support. She has had various unsatisfactory contacts with solicitors who advised a trust. There is a brother who is self supporting.

My understanding is that with current regulations, if he is left the house and lives in it it should not affect his DLA (or PIP) or his Income Support. I said to her that the regs may change at any time. If for example she left the house jointly to the siblings, the other could force a sale and then the capital would be taken into account at least for the Income Support.

My feeling is also that she needs legal advice to draft a water tight will so that at least he has a secure roof over his head in his life time.

I looked online to see if Headway or similar had a caseworker in Wales but no luck. Is there any other vol org who could help her?

rogerblack

The house you live in does not affect any benefits (other than housing benefit, or similar).
This is extremely unlikely to change, as taking it into account would basically mean that all homeowners now can't get benefits.

There is little need for a complex will - a very basic one will do.
It gets significantly more complex if there is cash >16K involved - as that will terminate benefits.
if this is the case, this money can be put into a trust to pay certain expenses only - say gas/electricity/phone/internet/insurance on this, or any house he lives in.