Fathers Early Pension

Griever

Hi, this is my first post and any advice would be most welcome.

Firstly I'll explain the situation. My father is 57 and has worked for the council in Wales for 25+yrs, he has various health issues, constantly in and out of hospital (needs a carer etc) and has now been granted early retirement due to medical reasons. He has a early pension lump sum of roughly £70k+ due to be paid this month and then £200 weekly as well. I believe as it's ill health they award him his pension as what it would of been at the retirement age (add the difference to what he has already built up currently, an extra 10+yrs).

That's the background sorted, now the questions I have are as follows;

1. Due to his ill health he has the money paid into my account to help manage his money, are there any implications to this, legal implications/tax implications etc? The plan is to buy a second property for him to live in, do work on my own home, give my brother some money...

2. He's supposed to be granted disability benefit through PiP, I'm not aware of whats currently happening with universal credit or if he's even eligible. With him having a large sum of money, will this effect his ability to have benefits, PiP/housing aid etc?

3. My mother and him divorced in 2007 and as part of the divorce she was awarded 18k of his pension, she had a fee to pay the solicitors to transfer it or something along those lines but never did. (I'm not fully aware of all the details with this but only what they remember).

My question would be, was the 18k only apart of the pension at the time they divorced? So basically she didn't pay the fee and essentially has 18k sitting somewhere and my mother is an idiot haha?
Or does the 18k come from my father being awarded his pension now?

I know some of this sounds a little complicated, hopefully someone can give me some good advice on how to use the money wisely and put it to the best use for our family.

Thanks in advance

sheslookinhot

First of all, the money is your fathers and should be put to best use for him, and him only. Who knows what he will require to fund in the future.

atush

The arrangement you have is not good for your father.

He should either give you POA or you should open a joint account with him so you can pay bills for him etc. His pension should n ot go into your account. You shoud NOT give money to your brother. Your father must do that himself if he wants, but you should both look up Deprivation of Assets.

Dorian1958

I am surprised a pension will be paid into an account which is not in the pensioners name. Certainly my Navy pension will not allow this. This whole plan needs a rethink imo, making sure that your father's needs, in the short, medium and long term, are put front and centre.

McKneff

Once the money is paid into your account it then is legall yours.

It really needs sorting asap

molerat

You need to get all his money paid into an account in his name, either jointly with you or with POA. Giving it away or using it for your benefit is not a sensible plan as, in your own words, he needs a carer - who is doing this and who is paying for it. It is not inconceivable that the burden of this care will likely later fall on the local authority so deprivation of assets could come into play. Also you need to avoid any accusations of elder abuse. If he was bouncing fit it would not be much of a problem.

Marcon

Griever wrote: »

That's the background sorted, now the questions I have are as follows;

1. Due to his ill health he has the money paid into my account to help manage his money can certainly be done if the rules of the pension scheme permit this but it would make more sense to have a joint account with your dad and only use this joint account for his money, to enable everyone to keep track of his finances as well as their own, are there any implications to this, legal implications/tax implications etc?Much depends on whether he is receiving means tested benefits and also whether he is likely to need residential care in the 'foreseeable' future - if so, and he may need local authority funding, there could be issues if he starts giving cash to you and your brother The plan is to buy a second property for him to live in do you mean he owns a property already, or will this be the only property he owns?, do work on my own home, give my brother some money...

2. He's supposed to be granted disability benefit through PiP, I'm not aware of whats currently happening with universal credit or if he's even eligible. With him having a large sum of money, will this effect his ability to have benefits, PiP/housing aid etc?Probably - and paying it to an account in your name won't get round that issue. Have a look at https://www.turn2us.org.uk

3. My mother and him divorced in 2007 and as part of the divorce she was awarded 18k of his pension, she had a fee to pay the solicitors to transfer it or something along those lines but never did. (I'm not fully aware of all the details with this but only what they remember).

My question would be, was the 18k only apart of the pension at the time they divorced? So basically she didn't pay the fee and essentially has 18k sitting somewhere and my mother is an idiot haha? Could be your mother was very sensible to leave the money where it is
Or does the 18k come from my father being awarded his pension now?Ask those administering the scheme how this has been/will be handled

See above.

Silvertabby

The LGPS clearly aren't aware that your dad's pension is being paid into your account. Once they find out (and they will, sooner or later) the payments will be stopped until your dad can prove that he is still alive and that you are not on the fiddle.

Griever

Thanks for all your answers, a lot to reply too.

Firstly it's understandable that it could look like I'm doing it for my benefit, which I'm not. My father requested it this way and is due too that why I'm asking for this advice as I want to do what's best for him!

His illness's are split between physical and mental with a serious gambling problem. To put into context how bad this problem was, after the divorce he gambled 40-50k of the money from selling of the family home (I only found out a few years after after he broke down and told me), this left him in the endless cycle of renting. Which again was the main reason he asked myself to manage on his behalf and again why I needed advice as I wasn't sure I should or if its legal or even morally the right thing to do.

It seems the best step would be to get a joint account. Are there ways the account can be limited so he can't gamble thousands of pounds at will etc? Or when he can be monitored to make sure he has this money for the rest of his life?

I appreciate the concern and replies so far, the advice is great!

Griever

I already own my own property, the idea was a second property for him to live in.

After he got divorced he went into a spiral, then health and mental problems over the past 10+ years have gotten worse and worse, he rented for a long period and then the last 2 or 3 years he has come to live in my house with my family to help take care of him, although it hasn't helped much if I'm honest, I work away so can't be around at times.

I will most likely go with my mother and speak to her solicitor that handled the divorce to find out for sure.

mark55man

good luck - it sounds like a complete nightmare - but read through what the above posters have said - there are ways of thinking about benefits, about pensions and about long term care - all of which may not sit easily with each other but the more you understand the lay of the land the more you can understand what is workable, and what may be workable but is open to misunderstanding - and believe me there are plenty of people looking to scrutinise this.

it is important with pensions to be particularly careful as you can do things that can't be undone, but in this case I think the rules of the scheme have been kind to your dad in his misfortune so you both just need to be careful. if the lump sum hasnt been paid yet, could you look at converting (commuting) it some of it into extra income on his pension