Is my mum allowed to give me money?

spaniel-lover

I'm in limbo at the moment (see my other thread), but basically my mum has got some money (about £50k) which she inherited from her father, she does not need the money to live on, it was her intention to leave it to me in her will (she is 70 btw), then she decided that seeing as I'm experiencing problems with my benefits & may be forced to live on £72 pw, it makes more sense to give me the money whilst she's still alive (incrementally, not in a lump sum), she thought about setting up a standing order, but the thing is - as I'm on benefits would I be committing fraud by receiving this money? I was on ESA & am trying to get back on it via appealing to the upper tribunal, if that fails then I will have to go on to JSA & probably get regularly sanctioned due to the fact that I am honestly not well enough to work.

poppasmurf_bewdley

You need to look up information of deprivation of capital, and what it would entail for you and your Mum.

I would have thought it would be better for her to help you by, for instance, paying your electricity and gas bill directly, etc, rather than giving you the money directly.

swingaloo

Not only will it affect your benefits, it will have a much greater effect on your mum in years to come.


Does your mum claim any benefits?
What if your mum needs to go into care at some point?


You really do need to google 'deprivation of assets'.

spaniel-lover

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

You need to look up information of deprivation of capital, and what it would entail for you and your Mum.

I would have thought it would be better for her to help you by, for instance, paying your electricity and gas bill directly, etc, rather than giving you the money directly.

I'm on a prepayment meter.

spaniel-lover

swingaloo wrote: »

Not only will it affect your benefits, it will have a much greater effect on your mum in years to come.


Does your mum claim any benefits?
What if your mum needs to go into care at some point?


You really do need to google 'deprivation of assets'.

My mum has a private pension in addition to the state pension, she has no rent or mortgage to pay as her husband owns the house outright, also her husband has just inherited a large sum of money.

TELLIT01

Deprivation of capital isn't a problem here. If your mother gives you money on a regular basis it could be treated as income or capital, depending on it's purpose.
I don't know how much can be put onto a prepayment meter but if your mother paid for that I don't think it should be a problem as you don't have access to the money. I would still check it out first.
If she gave you a lump sum in excess of £6k it would have an effect on your benefit entitlement and anything in excess of £16k would stop and JSA or ESA Income Related entitlement.

Mojisola

I thought that it was only regular, guaranteed payments that affect benefits.

WillowCat

As far as I'm aware she can give you ad-hoc gifts whenever she likes (as long as you don't go above the capital limits).

However it's likely to be investigated if you have a set regular amount going into your account every week/month. As the poster above says it's the regular guaranted amounts which would be taken into consideration.

Much better if she just gives you some cash every now and then for your groceries and some lump sums at irregular intervals, perhaps at birthday and christmas times.

allen35

WillowCat wrote: »

As far as I'm aware she can give you ad-hoc gifts whenever she likes (as long as you don't go above the capital limits).

However it's likely to be investigated if you have a set regular amount going into your account every week/month. As the poster above says it's the regular guaranted amounts which would be taken into consideration.

Much better if she just gives you some cash every now and then for your groceries and some lump sums at irregular intervals, perhaps at birthday and christmas times.

I agree, it won't seem to affect your mum benefits wise so a £5000 one off lump sum and take you to Asda every week and pay for your shopping whilst you challenge the decision. Other gifts could be white goods, furniture, a holiday, a car, any shortfall in rent, Council Tax and pay your debts all from her own account.

Wish I had a Mum like this, ha ha.

Good Luck with your appeal.

xylophone

If you are on a prepayment meter, your mother can make a large prepayment for you?

She can fill up your freezer?

She can give you a supermarket pre payment card?

She can pay for your petrol/clothes/holidays?

She could add you to a credit card with a strict credit limit and pay the bills?

spaniel-lover

Thank you everyone, I will let my mum know that this is not a good idea & she should use an alternative to a standing order to help me out.