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Inheritance Handling while on benefits
JackoWayne
Posts: 3 Newbie
One of my parents passed away without a will fairly recently and as such i have a couple of queries (some of which relate to benefits):
1. Having looked into how procedures work, I know that probate will have to be handled with the amount of money said parent had. however, will the executor of probate have to give out specific amounts due to the lack of a will or are they able to decide to give as much/as little to each default inheritor (aka me and my brothers)?
2. if I am to end up in receipt of anywhere between £10k and £50k, how would i handle the potential transition off of any means tested benefits i do currently receive? (i.e. ESA, Council Tax, Housing Benefit)
3. due to my living situation (Me living with a long term partner unmarried in excess of 8 years in a rented property), how would my inheriting of any money affect their means tested benefits considering our finances are mostly separate bar the esa/council tax/housing benefit claims (i would not wish for any possible inheritance to have an effect on their means tested income since neither of us are work capable due to health issues and are also worried about potential difficulties re-obtaining any needed benefits when inheritance money is low enough for reapplication to be necessary)
I have read over some previous threads on the subject of inheritance+benefits and have noticed a lot of "you only want to defraud" rhetoric and I wish to make specifically clear that i expect that I at least will have to start paying council tax, my part of the rent and other elements myself out of the inheritance money so i am going in with expectations of losing any of my own means tested benefits.
My main concern is how to smoothly transition from benefit money to inheritance payments on my own front and how it will affect any benefit income my partner receives due to us living together (couples claims).
1. Having looked into how procedures work, I know that probate will have to be handled with the amount of money said parent had. however, will the executor of probate have to give out specific amounts due to the lack of a will or are they able to decide to give as much/as little to each default inheritor (aka me and my brothers)?
2. if I am to end up in receipt of anywhere between £10k and £50k, how would i handle the potential transition off of any means tested benefits i do currently receive? (i.e. ESA, Council Tax, Housing Benefit)
3. due to my living situation (Me living with a long term partner unmarried in excess of 8 years in a rented property), how would my inheriting of any money affect their means tested benefits considering our finances are mostly separate bar the esa/council tax/housing benefit claims (i would not wish for any possible inheritance to have an effect on their means tested income since neither of us are work capable due to health issues and are also worried about potential difficulties re-obtaining any needed benefits when inheritance money is low enough for reapplication to be necessary)
I have read over some previous threads on the subject of inheritance+benefits and have noticed a lot of "you only want to defraud" rhetoric and I wish to make specifically clear that i expect that I at least will have to start paying council tax, my part of the rent and other elements myself out of the inheritance money so i am going in with expectations of losing any of my own means tested benefits.
My main concern is how to smoothly transition from benefit money to inheritance payments on my own front and how it will affect any benefit income my partner receives due to us living together (couples claims).
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JackoWayne wrote: »One of my parents passed away without a will fairly recently and as such i have a couple of queries (some of which relate to benefits):
1. Having looked into how procedures work, I know that probate will have to be handled with the amount of money said parent had. however, will the executor of probate have to give out specific amounts due to the lack of a will or are they able to decide to give as much/as little to each default inheritor (aka me and my brothers)?
2. if I am to end up in receipt of anywhere between £10k and £50k, how would i handle the potential transition off of any means tested benefits i do currently receive? (i.e. ESA, Council Tax, Housing Benefit)
3. due to my living situation (Me living with a long term partner unmarried in excess of 8 years in a rented property), how would my inheriting of any money affect their means tested benefits considering our finances are separate (i would not wish for any possible inheritance to have an effect on their means tested income since neither of us are work capable due to health issues and are also worried about potential difficulties re-obtaining any needed benefits when inheritance money is low enough for reapplication to be necessary)
I have read over some previous threads on the subject of inheritance+benefits and have noticed a lot of "you only want to defraud" rhetoric and I wish to make specifically clear that i expect that I at least will have to start paying council tax, my part of the rent and other elements myself out of the inheritance money so i am going in with expectations of losing any of my own means tested benefits.
My main concern is how to smoothly transition from benefit money to inheritance payments on my own front and how it will affect any benefit income my partner receives due to us living together but having separate finances.
You live with a partner (you have called them that) and have separate finances - so what
Sorry mary couples have separate finances , it doesn't make you less of a couple
I do - what's his is mine and mine is mine and so forth.
Afraid you will be treated as couple and there is no way around this fact - you live together
You will have to inform the DWP of the money and you will be treated as a couple and lose jointly so your inheritence will affect their money
Paying part of anything is a no go - sorry you live together“You’re only here for a short visit.
Don’t hurry, don't worry and be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”Walter Hagen
365 Day 1p Challenge for 2021 #41 ✅
Jar £440.31/£667.95 and Bank £389.67/£667.950 -
Your benefit claims should be couple claims.
If they’re not, you’ve got a lot more problems than a chunk of money coming your way...0 -
https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will(Me living with a long term partner unmarried in excess of 8 years in a rented property),
Then you are a couple. You say that you and your partner are on benefits - should you not be claiming as a couple?0 -
JackoWayne wrote: »One of my parents passed away without a will fairly recently and as such i have a couple of queries (some of which relate to benefits):
1. Having looked into how procedures work, I know that probate will have to be handled with the amount of money said parent had. however, will the executor of probate have to give out specific amounts due to the lack of a will or are they able to decide to give as much/as little to each default inheritor (aka me and my brothers)?
2. if I am to end up in receipt of anywhere between £10k and £50k, how would i handle the potential transition off of any means tested benefits i do currently receive? (i.e. ESA, Council Tax, Housing Benefit)
3. due to my living situation (Me living with a long term partner unmarried in excess of 8 years in a rented property), how would my inheriting of any money affect their means tested benefits considering our finances are separate (i would not wish for any possible inheritance to have an effect on their means tested income since neither of us are work capable due to health issues and are also worried about potential difficulties re-obtaining any needed benefits when inheritance money is low enough for reapplication to be necessary)
I have read over some previous threads on the subject of inheritance+benefits and have noticed a lot of "you only want to defraud" rhetoric and I wish to make specifically clear that i expect that I at least will have to start paying council tax, my part of the rent and other elements myself out of the inheritance money so i am going in with expectations of losing any of my own means tested benefits.
My main concern is how to smoothly transition from benefit money to inheritance payments on my own front and how it will affect any benefit income my partner receives due to us living together but having separate finances.
The estate will be distributed in line with the rules of intestacy - the administrator doesn't get to choose how much each person receives. Declining to accept part of your inheritance won't work - you will still be treated as though you have the money.0 -
Then you are a couple. You say that you and your partner are on benefits - should you not be claiming as a couple?marliepanda wrote: »Your benefit claims should be couple claims.
If they’re not, you’ve got a lot more problems than a chunk of money coming your way...You live with a partner (you have called them that) and have separate finances - so what
Sorry mary couples have separate finances , it doesn't make you less of a couple
I do - what's his is mine and mine is mine and so forth.
Afraid you will be treated as couple and there is no way around this fact - you live together
You will have to inform the DWP of the money and you will be treated as a couple and lose jointly so your inheritence will affect their money
Paying part of anything is a no go - sorry you live together
the main benefit claims are couples claims. but we have a couple of separated claims like DLA. sorry if it came off as misleading when i said finances were separate but i'm kind of new to dealing with some of this.
To be honest, I'd be prepared for the idea of having to live off of the inheritance amount until needed if our health situation weren't so awkward and the DWP's application processes weren't so horrible to go through with the uncertainty of if you will get it again or have to appeal yet again because an assessor took you having cleaned yourself up as "capable" for work rather than "i don't want to smell". any advice on that part of dealing with things? or at least making sure that when i need to reapply for it, that i can reapply with as little worry of if i'll get it as possible? I don't think i could handle the assessment process again without there being some way of alleviating some of the stress involved in it and not knowing if i'd ever get it again.The estate will be distributed in line with the rules of intestacy - the administrator doesn't get to choose how much each person receives. Declining to accept part of your inheritance won't work - you will still be treated as though you have the money.
the income based benefits thing is answered above this (tl;dr: i screwed up my description). and would the NIC even be a thing if i haven't ever been able to work due to my health - and if it is, what would the process be for that/how would i know if it'd be eligible for NIC?Sunny_Intervals wrote: »I'm sorry for your loss.
In terms of transitioning off benefits, if you have more than £16k, you'd lose your entitlement to ESA payments, but could continue your claim as a NIC (national insurance credits) only claim until your savings dropped below the cut-off. If you have between £6k and £16k, the payments you receive would be tapered.
I don't know the cut-offs for HB and CTR, but I assume you'd lose all or most of them if you receive a significant sum.
Don't go on a spending spree. Spend responsibly until your savings drop below the cut-off, then you can reapply for tax and housing help/ask for your ESA payments to resume.
I agree with the posts above, though. If you've been living with a partner for 8 years and are both claiming inome-based benefits as individuals, that may be a much bigger problem than the inheritance.
as for the intestacy, knowing that just makes me feel kind of like this "blessing" comes with the sandpaper condom screwing of the DWP's assessment process all over again without any means to soothe it.
I hate relying on benefits for anything but i also hate the uncertainty of not knowing if the government will arbitrarily deny benefits to me again when the time comes to reapply in a time of need.
anyway, what will the process be for transitioning to inheritance money from benefits so i can prepare a list of who i will have to set up monthly payments to etc.0 -
If either of you get DLA/PIP then you will continue to do so, they are not means tested. All means tested benefits for both of you will stop.0
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You and your partners DLA payments will not be affected by this inheritance.Alice Holt Forest situated some 4 miles south of Farnham forms the most northerly gateway to the South Downs National Park.0
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JackoWayne wrote: »3. due to my living situation (Me living with a long term partner unmarried in excess of 8 years in a rented property), how would my inheriting of any money affect their means tested benefits considering our finances are separate (i would not wish for any possible inheritance to have an effect on their means tested income since neither of us are work capable due to health issues and are also worried about potential difficulties re-obtaining any needed benefits when inheritance money is low enough for reapplication to be necessary)
That doesn't just get alarm bells ringing it gets every warning klaxon and horn blasting at full volume. You partner's means tested benefit is being paid on the basis of household income i.e. income included anything you are receiving in the way of benefits, pension etc. You cannot treat her Income Related benefit as something separate.
As you are unable to work through ill health presumably you are also claiming benefits. If that is the case are they purely Contribution based or Income Related? If Contribution based, her benefits won't affect your Conts entitlement but your benefits will certainly affect what she is entitled to. If DWP have not been informed that you live as a couple they need to be informed as whether intentionally or not payments are being received to which the recipient is not entitled. As DWP must be informed of all changes benefit fraud has been committed.0 -
That doesn't just get alarm bells ringing it gets every warning klaxon and horn blasting at full volume. You partner's means tested benefit is being paid on the basis of household income i.e. income included anything you are receiving in the way of benefits, pension etc. You cannot treat her Income Related benefit as something separate.
As you are unable to work through ill health presumably you are also claiming benefits. If that is the case are they purely Contribution based or Income Related? If Contribution based, her benefits won't affect your Conts entitlement but your benefits will certainly affect what she is entitled to. If DWP have not been informed that you live as a couple they need to be informed as whether intentionally or not payments are being received to which the recipient is not entitled. As DWP must be informed of all changes benefit fraud has been committed.
read over my replies. i screwed up in my description of things in initial post and clarified that we're on couples claims for ESA/Council Tax/Housing Benefit after.
tl;dr: bad at describing things but it'd help to read the whole thread before replying0 -
Sunny_Intervals wrote: »Just a thought: if you stop HB and restart it at a later date, I'm not sure if this would require you to move over to Universal Credit at that point or how that would work. Hopefully someone who's transitioned can answer that part.
You are correct. If they need to re-claim in the future and their area is a full Universal credit area then they won't be able to claim HB, it will be UC. Once they claim this then the ESA will transfer across too.0
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