Inheritance whilst on ESA

Nadzk01

My husband has been told that he might be receiving a inheritance and it looks to be in the region of £8000 ish. He has a very complicated medical condition and we are in the process of getting him accessed for pip and me to become his full time carer.

Currently we are in receipt of housing, council tax and esa income related. Now I understand that anything over £6000 will affect our benefits by £1 for every £250.

Here are my questions, Would the £1 be until the difference between £8000 to £6000 has been reached? For the first time we are in a position to help our kids aged 6 and 4, would we be able to put £1000 into each childs trust fund and obviously declare the full inherited amount but have prove of the money in the kids trust funds, would this be seen as deprivation of capital?

Many thanks for any answers

GirlFromMars_2

If you give away the money to reduce your capital to gain benefit it will be considered Deprivation of Capital, and you will be assessed as still having the money I'm afraid.

You can spend money to replace items that need replacing or buy things that you need, but do not give it away or blow it on an extravagant holiday. Keep receipts for any large purchases, and be prepared to justify them if necessary.

Nadzk01

Thank you for the response, I was positive that I read somewhere that as I wont physically have access to the money that it will be ok

GirlFromMars_2

No, that's not the case with Deprivation of Capital.

It might be considered differently if you choose to put aside money for them once you're below the £6000 threshold. But if you give them money in order to bring yourself below that threshold the DWP will count it as notional capital, (ie as if you still had full access to the money even though you don't).

Horseunderwater

The maximum would £8/week deducted on that amount 4 ESA. No idea how much it might be for HB or CTSupport.

Ames

Nadzk01 wrote: »

Thank you for the response, I was positive that I read somewhere that as I wont physically have access to the money that it will be ok

That's only if you have no choice in the matter. If the person who left the inheritance had made a condition saying that a grand each should go to the kids, or some other condition that meant you had no free use of it then it wouldn't be counted. But you can't make that decision yourself.

I'm in a similar position - my mum was going to put my inheritance in a trust for me to only use to buy a house with. But she didn't make a will, so the money comes to me to do what I want with, and so deprivation of capital rules apply.

Mojisola

Nadzk01 wrote: »

My husband has been told that he might be receiving a inheritance and it looks to be in the region of £8000 ish. He has a very complicated medical condition and we are in the process of getting him accessed for pip and me to become his full time carer.

GirlFromMars wrote: »

You can spend money to replace items that need replacing or buy things that you need, but do not give it away or blow it on an extravagant holiday. Keep receipts for any large purchases, and be prepared to justify them if necessary.

This is allowed - are there any aids that would help him manage his condition, a more reliable car or one that's easier for him to get in and out of, a new bed/mattress or other furniture?

You can't splash out on luxuries but if you spend the money wisely, there's rarely any problem. Keep all the receipts.

If, once you're below the £6k, you want to put some of the money away for your children, that's your choice but you will be assessed as still having it if your capital goes over £6k again.

GirlFromMars_2

Ames wrote: »

That's only if you have no choice in the matter. If the person who left the inheritance had made a condition saying that a grand each should go to the kids, or some other condition that meant you had no free use of it then it wouldn't be counted. But you can't make that decision yourself.

I'm in a similar position - my mum was going to put my inheritance in a trust for me to only use to buy a house with. But she didn't make a will, so the money comes to me to do what I want with, and so deprivation of capital rules apply.

Are you in a position to purchase a house, or were you just hoping to save the money to buy a house in the future?

If you are in a position to buy a property you should write to the DWP explaining your circumstances and ask a Decision Maker to make a decision about Deprivation of Capital and IR benefits.

Ames

GirlFromMars wrote: »

Are you in a position to purchase a house, or were you just hoping to save the money to buy a house in the future?

If you are in a position to buy a property you should write to the DWP explaining your circumstances and ask a Decision Maker to make a decision about Deprivation of Capital and IR benefits.

Neither, since dad and sister shafted me and I'm getting a smaller share than I should. I won't have enough to buy outright, and I moved into a suitable council flat in October. As I'm now adequately housed I wouldn't get permission to buy shared equity. I might be able to get permission to use my right to buy, but I'd just be buying a liability for future expence and big service charges so I'd be less secure than I am now.

So I'm going to spend some of it on getting my flat nice and homely (it's an ex crack den with interesting decor and disgusting blood, and worse, stains all over the place so needs a fair bit spending on it), and enjoy a couple of years free of the stress of means tested benefits, assessments, law changes etc. Who knows, without that stress I might be able to finally get myself sorted and be in a position to not have to go back on them.

GirlFromMars_2

I never did really investigate the criteria for normal shared ownership, but I didn't realise being homeless was one of the conditions. I know you can't own a home and buy regular shared ownership. For the Shared Ownership scheme I bought with I had to be on the Housing Register for my Local Authority, but conversely it didn't matter that I owned a home already and was in the process of selling.

Are you sure being in a council flat precludes you from Shared Ownership?

Either way you definitely deserve to live somewhere nice and comfortable, so if using the money to improve your flat is what you want to do then go for it! I hope your health improves with your environment and you're able to ditch the stress!

Ames

GirlFromMars wrote: »

I never did really investigate the criteria for normal shared ownership, but I didn't realise being homeless was one of the conditions. I know you can't own a home and buy regular shared ownership. For the Shared Ownership scheme I bought with I had to be on the Housing Register for my Local Authority, but conversely it didn't matter that I owned a home already and was in the process of selling.

Are you sure being in a council flat precludes you from Shared Ownership?

Either way you definitely deserve to live somewhere nice and comfortable, so if using the money to improve your flat is what you want to do then go for it! I hope your health improves with your environment and you're able to ditch the stress!

Being in a council flat doesn't automatically preclude you from Shared Ownership. But what I'd be basically saying is 'I have a secure tenancy in a place that meets my needs. I've just inherited a load of money, please can I use it to buy a quarter share in a house. Oh, and I'll need housing benefit to pay the rent on the other three quarters, which will probably be more than my current HB. Oh, and I might need to spend a few grand on adaptations so that it's as suitable as my current place'. No DM is going to agree to that, mainly because the only possible reason for buying is to get rid of the cash.

Plus, the HOLD scheme, which is the only one I think I'd be eligible for (others seem to only be for people in work) specifies that it must be to move to somewhere more suitable. If I were in my old place, with a list as long as your arm of reasons it was unsuitable (as assessed by the council) then it would be a no brainer to use the money to buy somewhere, to get out of the hellhole that was a serious health and safety hazard.

Sorry to the OP for taking the thread off topic.