ESA and pension

bspm

Did your father work for the council or was he a serving member of the forces???

marliepanda

FrankR wrote: »

It's my biological father. I'm living with my step dad and my biological mum. Sorry for not making that clear!

Regards survivor's pension, the US. Department of Veteran affairs define children as 'survivors' of a deceased veteran.

The Survivors Pension benefit, which may also be referred to as Death Pension, is a tax-free monetary benefit payable to a low-income, un-remarried surviving spouse and/or unmarried child(ren) of a deceased Veteran with wartime service.

However, whether the DWP define children as 'survivor's is still unknown.

No point looking at completely irrelevant policies from a different country. Dying in the armed forces is usually a little different to dying after being a council employee.

Everything you are quoting is irrelevant.

It seems this was a pension your Dad was able to choose who it went to, not sure if that would necessarily be a survivors pension. I know my Dad has one that will pass to my Mum if he dies first as she hasn't got one as big of her own, as due to childcare she would not have very much income without his pension. Children are usually assumed to have more independence and ability to fend for themselves, which is why yours is only because you are disabled/under a certain age in education.

I assume if it was given to his surviving spouse it would not have those caveats (as, with the best will in the world, a spouse is unlikely to last as long as a child, unless you're Hugh Heffner)

nannytone_2

whats the US department of veterans affairs got to do with anything?

ESA is a UK benefit and it is irrelevant what the US rules are

FrankR

It is not necessary irrelevant.

The fact that the US department use the same criteria for assessing whether a child can claim the veteran's pension is encouraging:

While an un-remarried spouse is eligible at any age, a child of a deceased wartime Veteran must be:
Under 18, OR
Under age 23 if attending a VA-approved school, OR
Permanently incapable of self-support due to a disability before age 18

This matches word for the word the criteria of the pension I am claiming from Wolverhampton.

The only difference is that I have not yet found information from either Wolverhampton Pension Fund, or the DWP, that defines a child as being eligible for survivor's pension. It mentions spouse, civil partner as does the US department.

Basically, all I need is one sentence, or regulation that either includes a child as a survivor, or not. If I know this, I'll then know whether DWP will deduct my pension from my ESA.

nannytone_2

you know no such thing, you're convincing yourself of what you want to hear.

marliepanda

The fact the US Veteran's department uses the same criteria as your pension provider doesn't matter at all. All it means is that if you were the child of a US veteran you'd still get the pension. You're not. It doesnt matter.

It matters what the DWP say.

FrankR

Well according to the DWP:

Survivor benefits in DB schemes
2.10 Survivor benefits are the benefits paid to the dependant of a scheme member
who has died either before or after the member has started to draw the
pension income. Dependants can include opposite sex and same sex
spouses, and surviving civil partners. Many occupational schemes also include
options for scheme members who are co-habiting to nominate their partner to
receive survivor benefits in the event the scheme member dies before their
partner. Survivor benefits commonly include a continuing survivor pension.
The detailed arrangements for these pensions vary considerably between
schemes and between categories of survivor. The formulae for calculating the
amount of pension can also vary considerably depending on the scheme rules
and the circumstances of the deceased member at the time of death. As such,
these pensions are also a form of defined benefit, as how a survivor pension is
to be calculated is fixed in advance by the scheme rules.

See the bold sentence. It states 'dependants can include...' - meaning that it lists only some of the dependants?

I think the important part of this is "depending on the scheme rules". I think I'll call Wolverhampon Pension and ask them if they count children as survivors or not. I cannot find any information about it online.

gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323874/survivor-benefits-in-occupational-pension-schemes.pdf

FrankR

Thanks for helping.

cloudydays

FrankR wrote: »

I wasn't claiming ESA when I received the £21,000 in January.

I started claiming ESA in July 2015, and by that time, I had only £5,000 left as I had paid off a lot of debt in February.

Now I have only one bank account with £5000 in it.

(Even if I had more than the capital limit of £6000, why would I declare it and keep it in a bank account? Wouldn't it be wise to hide it as cash somewhere else so DWP can't find out? Or even give it to my parents for them to put it in their bank account?)

Have you been receiving a monthly pension payment since January when you received the lump sum? Did you declare the pension when you started your income based ESA in July?

marliepanda

some and then lists lots of various different types of partners. Seems weird to list all those types of partners, yet completely negate to mention children of any type.