MIL Recently Widowed - need help understanding universal credit and entitlement

calcotti

luke222010 wrote: »

So the entitledto calculator states £163.56 per week (more than the 317.82 you mention). Does this include housing element as there is no reference to that in the calculation?

I don’t think that is what OP has said. They say the total benefit entitlement is £163.65 consisting of £146.17 UC and £17.39 CTR.

If UC is £146.17 that is presumably £73.10 standard allowance plus £73.07 housing costs (monthly £317.82 plus £316.64 = £634.46). Whether this is right or not depends on the eligible housing costs.

luke222010

Thank you to everyone for the comments so far.
I think we understand UC a little better now after all the reading we have done in the last week.

The other thing I am confused about is, my Father in law was earning a state pension, he was 75. My Mother in law is 57, and therefore not at state pension age. She has also not built up any NI contributions since around 30 years ago.

Does this mean, she may be entitled to his state pension by applying to take his NI record as her own? Or is this only possible once she reaches State Pension age? I've read a number of explanations on this, but some contradict others.

andi2

She has had her NI contributions paid while claiming carers allowance (it's automatically done). So she will have some contributions towards the state pension.

luke222010

andi2 wrote: »

She has had her NI contributions paid while claiming carers allowance (it's automatically done). So she will have some contributions towards the state pension.

So does that mean she can get some of his state pension before reaching state pension age?

p00hsticks

luke222010 wrote: »

So does that mean she can get some of his state pension before reaching state pension age?

No, she can't get anything from his pension before she reaches state pension age - and when she does, note that it is only 50% of any additional state pension (SERPS or S2P) that he had, which may not be much, if anything

(Edit: just noticed that he was entitled to Pension Credit, which suggests that he probably had little additional state pension, so don't go pinning much hope on this) https://www.gov.uk/additional-state-pension/inheriting


She needs to get a state pension forecast on her own behalf - as others have pointed out, she will have been getting credits while she was receiving Carers Allowance, and possibly if in receipt of child benefit, so she may be entitled to more in her own right than initially thought.

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

luke222010

Thank you to you all for the replies I've had.

I have another question, my mother in law has today been told she has to look for work within a fortnight of the death of my father in law.

A friend of hers tells us that this is wrong, and that you are exempt from having to look for work, or meet work availability requirements if a child or partner has died within the last 6 months.

Is anyone able to clarify, please?

calcotti

luke222010 wrote: »

A friend of hers tells us that this is wrong, and that you are exempt from having to look for work, or meet work availability requirements if a child or partner has died within the last 6 months

Your friend is right. It is unlawful to impose any work search requirements for six months from the date of death of a partner.

The Universal Credit Regulations 2013
Circumstances in which requirements must not be imposed

99.—(1) Where paragraph (3), (4), (5) or (6) applies—

(a)the Secretary of State must not impose a work search requirement on a claimant; and
(b)“able and willing immediately to take up work” under a work availability requirement means able and willing to take up paid work, or attend an interview, immediately once the circumstances set out in paragraph (3), (4), (5) or (6) no longer apply.

(2) A work search requirement previously applying to the claimant ceases to have effect from the date on which the circumstances set out in paragraph (3), (4), (5) or (6) begin to apply.

(3) This paragraph applies where—
......
(d)any of the following persons has died within the past 6 months—
(i)where the claimant was a member of a couple, the other member,

She should challenge the demand and reference this clause. I also think it would be worth making a complaint about the additional anxiety this unlawful request has caused at a difficult time. Quite apart from the basic human insensitivity involved it is appalling that the work coach should be so ill informed about the law.