Giving money away while getting uc

Teac532s

Asking for a friend as she has no online access. My friend is in a position where she has to sell her house because of a marriage split. The house was to be left to her 3 sons but because of the split her ex hubbie has forced the sell of the house. She wants to give her half of the sale proceeds to her 3 sons ,we reckon around the £25,000 mark between them ,but has been told by UC that it may affect her benefit. She gets the disability part of UC and housing benefit paid by UC. Basically they say that if she has gained capital and gives it away ,or pays debts with it , thers a chance it could affect her UC in the future. Anyone had any expierence with this or be able to elaborate on it. The money was to be for the 3 sons eventually but because of circumstances the house is being sold and she finds herself in a position where if she does give the money away it will affect her UC and if she keeps it for herself it will affect her UC. She is still adamant that the 3 sons get the money from her half of the house as that was the main reason she bought it in the first place ,so the sons would have something. Is there any way she can gift the money to them without affecting her UC.

Mojisola

No-one gets an inheritance until someone has died. She may have hoped her sons would benefit from the sale of the house after her death but life hasn't worked out like that.

If she is claiming any means tested benefits and gives away her capital, she will be assessed as if she still has it and her benefits could stop. How would she live then?

Would her sons really want her to be homeless and hungry while they have her money in the bank?

[Deleted User]

In short there isn't, its all about deprivation of capital, she could give the money away but she might still be treated as though she hadn't.
If she is having to sell the house where is she going to live?
Its all very nice wanting to help you kids but tbh only when you don't need the money yourself, many would say she should use that money so she doesn't have to rely on the state.

elsien

*Bites tongue and steps away from the keyboard*

calcotti

Teac532s wrote: »

Is there any way she can gift the money to them without affecting her UC.

No.............

[Deleted User]

Teac532s wrote: »

Asking for a friend as she has no online access. My friend is in a position where she has to sell her house because of a marriage split. The house was to be left to her 3 sons but because of the split her ex hubbie has forced the sell of the house. She wants to give her half of the sale proceeds to her 3 sons ,we reckon around the £25,000 mark between them ,but has been told by UC that it may affect her benefit. She gets the disability part of UC and housing benefit paid by UC. Basically they say that if she has gained capital and gives it away ,or pays debts with it , thers a chance it could affect her UC in the future. Anyone had any expierence with this or be able to elaborate on it. The money was to be for the 3 sons eventually but because of circumstances the house is being sold and she finds herself in a position where if she does give the money away it will affect her UC and if she keeps it for herself it will affect her UC. She is still adamant that the 3 sons get the money from her half of the house as that was the main reason she bought it in the first place ,so the sons would have something. Is there any way she can gift the money to them without affecting her UC.

Because it might vanish

Kim_kim

So basically how can she hide away money from the sale of her house so I and millions of other tax payers can continue to support her?

huckster

"My friend is in a position where she has to sell her house because of a marriage split. The house was to be left to her 3 sons but because of the split her ex hubbie has forced the sell of the house. She wants to give her half of the sale proceeds to her 3 sons ,we reckon around the £25,000 mark between them ,but has been told by UC that it may affect her benefit. She gets the disability part of UC and housing benefit paid by UC. "

So if UC was paying Housing, I wonder what the situation is ?

If this house being sold is not where she was actually living, did she disclose the capital held in this other house and the capital was disregarded ?

Or if she is living in house being sold, was it a shared ownership property and UC was paying rent and service charges.

Or is the house just mortgaged and UC is paying support for mortgage interest.

I would suggest that if your friend is not very good at dealing with financial legal matters, that she seeks help. Not wise to have a friend obtaining advice on internet forums, when a forum might not have all of the information to offer best advice.

Caz3121

Teac532s wrote: »

The house was to be left to her 3 sons but because of the split her ex hubbie has forced the sell of the house.

I assume you mean that the original plan was that on her death the house would go to the children as she would have no need for a house or funds.
There are many people that plan to leave their house to their children but cannot...for example the house needs to be sold to pay for care etc.
She should not give away a large amount of money unless she were still able to pay all bills etc without being reliant on the state
As she will need to pay rent etc, I am sure the children will understand that that is a priority rather than their future inheritance

[Deleted User]

If that's around £25,000 to be split between them then all of the above posts cover it however on the off chance you mean £25,000 each then the best bet would be to buy a flat for herself (yes it is possible at that price, dependant on location obviously).

If you have under £6,001 savings (total) then it doesn't affect UC, between £6,001 and £16,000 they knock off £4.35 per month for each additional £250 (or part of). Over £16,000 you can't claim at all.

calcotti

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

If you have under £6,001 savings (total) then it doesn't affect UC, between £6,001 and £12,000 they knock off £4.35 per month for each additional £250 (or part of). Over £12,000 you can't claim at all.

Correction, savings between £6,001 and £16,000 are treated as above. Savings over £16,000 mean you cannot claim UC.