Selling house whilst on Benefits

fallen2k8

Hi all,

Me and my wife want to sell our property to our daughter to pay off outstanding debts. I have not been able to do much for my children but at the very least I'd also like to fund my daughter's wedding. The only problem is that this bold move will have an impact on our benefits which we will still need if we are to utilise the proceeds as mentioned. We will still have over £16k left but, I would imagine this would not last too long.

My question is, which of our benefits will be cancelled due to this house sale and is there another way around this?

Currently, we are claiming:

ESA (support group) - income related
Child Tax Credit
Child Benefit

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Stop_Watch

No you can.t expect to claim money from the state while using money to pay for your daughters wedding! This money you will have to live on until you reach the savings threshold.

TELLIT01

I presume you mean which of your benefit will be cancelled rather than which of your debts. That being the case, your ESA will cease unless there is a Contribution based entitlement. The other benefits won't be affected as they are not Income Based (CB would cease if earning over £50k).
The other thing to bear in mind is that if you sold the house to your daughter for less than market value that could affect any future entitlement to Income Related benefit. Would you continue to live in the property and would you pay rent to your daughter. You could be opening up a load more problems than you are solving by doing this.

Caz3121

fallen2k8 wrote: »

Me and my wife want to sell our property to our daughter to pay off outstanding debts.

where are you going to live when you sell your house? Is daughter going to be paying full market value? how much equity is there currently?

KatrinaWaves

You will not get any income related benefits if you spend large sums on your daughters wedding until the capital is deemed to have been spent through normal living. Clearing the debts is a stickier one but it depends on the amounts and the states of the accounts.

fallen2k8

TELLIT01 wrote: »

I presume you mean which of your benefit will be cancelled rather than which of your debts. That being the case, your ESA will cease unless there is a Contribution based entitlement. The other benefits won't be affected as they are not Income Based (CB would cease if earning over £50k).
The other thing to bear in mind is that if you sold the house to your daughter for less than market value that could affect any future entitlement to Income Related benefit. Would you continue to live in the property and would you pay rent to your daughter. You could be opening up a load more problems than you are solving by doing this.

Hi, yes I meant benefits - not debts. My bad. I will also continue to live in the property with my family (Natwest is a lender which allows this). I wont be paying rent but I will contribute towards the bills and whatnot. It will be a concessionary purchase so no deposit required but as a result the house is being sold below market value by 15% or so. I will obviously inform HMRC asap but living rent free, would I be eligible for CB and Ctc?

poppy12345

fallen2k8 wrote: »

Hi, yes I meant benefits - not debts. My bad. I will also continue to live in the property with my family (Natwest is a lender which allows this). I wont be paying rent but I will contribute towards the bills and whatnot. It will be a concessionary purchase so no deposit required but as a result the house is being sold below market value by 15% or so. I will obviously inform HMRC asap but living rent free, would I be eligible for CB and Ctc?

CB and CTC won't be affected but your Income Related ESA will be. Anything over £16,000 and you won't receive any means tested benefits.

Ames

Depending where you live you might not be able to go back on ESA, it would have to be UC. You could end up significantly worse off in the long run.

fallen2k8

Ames wrote: »

Depending where you live you might not be able to go back on ESA, it would have to be UC. You could end up significantly worse off in the long run.

When the time comes I will have to inform DWP about my change of circumstance. UC has recently started in my area (Feb 2018) and I am aware that everyone will eventually be switched to UC in July 2019.

Will I still have CTC entitlement up until July 2019 or will I be forced to be moved to UC after updating them of my change of circumstance?

[Deleted User]

I know you have already put a lot of thought into this, but please discuss it with family and friends some more. You are claiming tax credits so presumably have another child at home.

You are talking about selling your home to finance a wedding. Why? Is this really necessary? What is important about a wedding - spending thousands on a dress that will only be used once, however beautiful, thousands on a reception where people you don't know that well will get drunk, eat over expensive, probably badly prepared food you wouldn't normally eat, then there might be a disco with flashy lights, but by that time there will be some there that won't even remember a single tune.

Why not concentrate on things, that to me are really meaningful.., maintaining a home for your family, not just one member of your family. You may have gotten on famously with your daughter all her life, but that can change. And you and your family could end up on the streets overnight (particularly if you aren't paying rent).

The wedding could be a wonderful happy sharing occasion, a nice but not expensive dress (even hired), pot luck food (family is about sharing after all) that the guests bring, hold it in your home, the centre of your family or find a cheap church hall. The important thing is your daughter is in love and wants to celebrate that love with a ceremony, with her family and friends.., does it have less meaning if its a flash wedding? You might find an awful lot more about sharing and family, love, if you don't pay out a fortune. I know pride is important but there are other ways to show love. If your daughter is old enough to marry, she is old enough to understand that otherwise something hasn't gone well in her upbringing. Very sorry if that offends.

Also bear in mind the divorce rate. How would you feel then? I saw a friend get married, cost a fortune, she was looking to divorce within the year. I know that doesn't happen every time but it is a significantly high proportion.

Sorry to be so up front, but it just seems insane to me to sell your family home, with all the risks that entails for a flash wedding (which in my opinion is not what a wedding is about)? On top of this, you will be reducing your income drastically.

Please think again. You don't have to make sacrifices like this to make your daughter happy. Are you doing it because of a need in yourself? If this is so, please please consider counselling rather than a flash wedding.

calleyw

As deannatrois has touched on. What happens if your daughter gets divorced.


The house you have sold her under market value and paying no rent to her could be counted as asset even if its just in her name. So her husband could have a claim.



What happens if you fall out with your daughter and her husband. They could kick you out and get paying tenants in.



Also you would not be able to claim housing benefit. So your daughter is happy to have no rent to pay the mortgage on the house then pay to live else where. So she or her husband to be must have deep pockets and would be able to pay for her own wedding?


Not very well thought out at all. I would go and see a solicitor if I was you. As this just going to be a massive mess if you are not careful.


If you have debts then talk to a debt charity. Go over to the debt free board loads of help there.


Yours


Calley x