Pension Credit - with house

Mozzfather

They are joint owners..

[Deleted User]

They need legal advice, nothing less.

Mozzfather

I have asked a solicitor - he advised legal adviser
I have asked a legal adviser - he advised solicitor.
The legalities of transferring the ownership of the house is straightforward and amicable.

The question is:- Will pension credit treat my mothers action as deprivation of assets?

Do they ask about previous homes/assets in the same way the LA would for care provision. This is all I need to know and I am not sure a solicitor or a financial adviser would know the answer...

TELLIT01

Mozzfather wrote: »

The question is:- Will pension credit treat my mothers action as deprivation of assets?

Do they ask about previous homes/assets in the same way the LA would for care provision. This is all I need to know and I am not sure a solicitor or a financial adviser would know the answer...

It's highly probable that transferring the property to yourself and your siblings would be treated as deprivation of capital. Nobody can say any more than that. I appreciate that you are asking specifically about Pension Credits but you need to look to the long term also. If you mother did need care provision in the future this action would almost certainly come back to bite her.

pmlindyloo

Since your mother and father are joint tenants then your mother cannot transfer her share of the property to anyone else. In order to do so the ownership of the house would have to be changed to tenants in common in equal shares - has the solicitor not explained this?

Th transference to tenants in common and then transferring to children would be perceived as deprivation of capital as your mother would be depriving herself of her capital by passing it to her children.

Having said that, for Pension Credit purposes usually a jointly owned property is treated as 50/50 for capital purposes but can be disregarded for a period of time if that person is seeking legal advice about getting that capital - for instance by selling the property or forcing a sale where one party does not agree.

But there is some flexibility here if the other person doesn't want to sell because of some specific reasons.

That is why people are telling you to seek legal advice. A court could order that your father stays in the property until his death, for example. He could be forced to sell through a court order as well.

There are different options here.

What does your father want to do? Could he sell up and get sheltered accommodation or something similar? Have you spoken to the council about accommodation for your dad if he sells up? Where is your mother going to live?

Put simply, your mother would be depriving herself of capital if she gave it away to her children. With that capital she would not need benefits. That is the argument.

But the DWP do meet situations like this all the time , I am sure. You could write to Pension Credit, explain the situation and ask for some advice. A decision maker would then make a decision. Yes, your mum could claim PC with dad remaining in the property, no she couldn't unless she showed evidence of a court order etc etc.

If the decision was positive and in writing then your mum could not be liable for deprivation of capital.

More detail here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/690030/dmgch84.pdf

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