Inheritance problem

TELLIT01

You need to look into the 'deed of variance' option to see if that is a practical option. The claims that there is a department which looks at wills is cow pats to put it politely. If a fraud investigation is happening then wills etc will be looked at but it certainly doesn't happen as a matter of course.
I am not suggesting that you make any false representation to DWP or other bodies. If you simply give half to your sister it will certainly be seen as deprivation of capital.

missbiggles1

mark88man wrote: »

so yes. when you have the capital you are expected to support yourself.

However you are (from what has been posted) only a little over the limit. So it should not be too hard to spend what you need to get under the limit - I am sure there are legitimate things that are not regarded as deprivation. Then the moment you are under the 16K barrier you can share with your step sister according to what you think is right

EDIT - this looks interesting only 18 months ago so should still be relevant - plenty more google is your friend http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/house-garden-194/money-finance-entitlements-267/1050593-hi-all-just-wanted-bit-advice-if-anyone-can-help-all.html

Benefits are still affected if you have between £6k and £16k.

calleyw

TELLIT01 wrote: »

You need to look into the 'deed of variance' option to see if that is a practical option. The claims that there is a department which looks at wills is cow pats to put it politely. If a fraud investigation is happening then wills etc will be looked at but it certainly doesn't happen as a matter of course.
I am not suggesting that you make any false representation to DWP or other bodies. If you simply give half to your sister it will certainly be seen as deprivation of capital.

The OP has already been told that a deed of Variation will be classed as deprivation of capital. So why are you suggesting it?

It has already been mentioned on this forum about there being a department that looks at wills. So sadly not cow pat as you say.

Why does nobody want to pay there way any more. As its 20K then you only need use the money for a few months and they can claim again. But you still can't just give it away once under 16K.

The only way around this is now to late, for your grandmother to have written the will leaving half her estate to your stepsister.

Yours

Calley

GirlFromMars_2

Exactly what benefits are you in receipt of?

Is your ESA Income Related or Contributions Based? Are you in the Support Group or Work Related Activity Group? (Were you working prior to claiming ESA, or were you transferred from another benefit?)

Child Tax Credits shouldn't be affected by capital, or am I missing something?

Do you receive Housing Benefit, or Council Tax Relief? Both of these would be stopped with capital over £16K.

Does your step-sister have grounds to contest the will? Presumably if she did you wouldn't be regarded as having deprived yourself, although that's just a guess.

You cannot give £10K to your step-sister without it being counted as Deprivation of Capital. The DWP will regard you as still having the money, and will stop/lower your benefits accordingly. You would end up in a position where you would be worse off than if you hadn't inherited any money in the first place.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

You will be seen as deliberately depriving yourself of capital to continue to claim benefits.

Bomopu

GirlFromMars wrote: »

You would end up in a position where you would be worse off than if you hadn't inherited any money in the first place.

I know, but if I don't give her share it's like my step-sister is going to lose her inheritance to pay my benefits. I feel awful. She works hard and still has hardly any money.


I'm on income related ESA (support group). Don't receive any housing or other benefits.

Bomopu

calleyw wrote: »

Why does nobody want to pay there way any more. As its 20K then you only need use the money for a few months and they can claim again. But you still can't just give it away once under 16K.

I'm not trying to dodge the system and not pay my way. I know that I will lose some of my benefits if I still receive £10k until it falls below £6k but if I get the full £20k it is my sister who is losing out.

calleyw wrote: »

The only way around this is now to late, for your grandmother to have written the will leaving half her estate to your stepsister.

Yes, we did ask her to change her will but she didn't want to talk about it. As I was working and had no children and not on any benefits at that time we just decided that I could just give half to my step-sister. As my situation changed it did not cross my mind about this happening

tomtom256

Bomopu wrote: »

I know, but if I don't give her share it's like my step-sister is going to lose her inheritance to pay my benefits. I feel awful. She works hard and still has hardly any money.


I'm on income related ESA (support group). Don't receive any housing or other benefits.

You are going to lose your benefits either way as you will have over £16k in capital.

You are in a no win situation.

NYM

Bomopu wrote: »

..........Yes, we did ask her to change her will but she didn't want to talk about it....

What a shame she wasn't keen to discuss her wishes with you both. I suppose some people might find it difficult.

Bomopu wrote: »

I know, but if I don't give her share it's like my step-sister is going to lose her inheritance to pay my benefits. I feel awful. She works hard and still has hardly any money.

Don't think of it that she is going to lose her inheritance...she wasn't included in your G/Mothers will. Unfortunately if it now means that what you receive will undoubtedly cause you issues with any means tested benefit you receive, giving some of it away won't alter that.

As your step-sister isn't a beneficiary it's a lovely gesture to share yours with her.

TELLIT01

calleyw wrote: »

The OP has already been told that a deed of Variation will be classed as deprivation of capital. So why are you suggesting it?

It has already been mentioned on this forum about there being a department that looks at wills. So sadly not cow pat as you say.

Claims being made on the forum does not automatically mean that they are accurate. I have seen many posts over the months where statements are quite simply 100% wrong.
There is a data matching function which has the ability to cross match a lot of financial information but any suggestion that there is a department which checks wills as a matter of course is quite simply not true. It's not practical as wills are paper based documents, not generally held electronically. Just look at the potential numbers involved. A population of over 60 million means that in excess of 750,000 people die each year. Where are the staff going to be found to (a) check if a will has been made (b) check the content of the will (c) identify if any of that content refers to a benefit claimant?