Inheritance

mummysthebest

hello looking for some advice really. My auntie has left me 40,000 we think and I am a carer with 2 disabled boys and a little girl. So we claim carers but we also get tax credits. I’m wondering how does this money affect these benifits? And do you need to declare it. I’m soo confused and very upset as I’ve not asked for this but read I can’t refuse it as that will look like I’m doing it to stay on benifits. I cannot work due to my boys who has autism and other complex needs and also they go out of area schools so it’s kinda hard if I need to get to school due to them becoming to much for school to handle. I’ve being depressed about this for about a week. I’ve not had anything from the solicitor as of yet my auntie who is executor and is sorting it out. But never being in this situation before so it’s kinda hard. And things we can use the money for to make our life’s a little easy for our family. No hate just looking for some advice. Thankyou everyone 

pmlindyloo

Can you please give us fuller details so we can give the correct advice?
Do you have a partner?  Is your partner working?
If you are single, are you claiming income support?

mummysthebest

Hello sorry yes income support and I do have a partner but he’s classed as my other sons carer you see so we know about then other benifits but with tax credits I don’t know about that, I know carers it’s if your working as income and stuff dosent come into it. I’m worrying all the time suffer so bad with anxiety this is a whole new level 😔 sorry everyone x

pmlindyloo

Thanks.
Your income support will end as you will have over £16000 in savings.
Your Carer's Allowance will continue as savings do not affect this.
Your tax credits will not be affected as it is only the interest of over £300 pa on savings which count.
You do not say whether you receive housing benefit or council tax reduction. If you do then you would also lose these because of the savings.
The savings limit for income support/housing benefit is £16000.  Once you are below this you can apply again for Income Support and HB.  Council Tax reduction varies according to your local authority. You are allowed £6000 in savings.  Between £6000- and £16000 there is a reduction to your Income Support/Housing Benefit  of £1 per week for each £250 over the £6000. (May not be true for council tax reduction in your authority)
Once the inheritance hits your bank account you must report it to the DWP (for the income support) and council (if you receive HB and CTR)  
You can certainly spend some of the inheritance on the necessities of life.
Edit
Please see later post about having to apply for Universal Credit instead of Income Support/HB when you get below the savings limit.

mummysthebest

Thankyou so only to inform income support. Yea we get hb ct aswell. Can I ask if we are joint claim and the money is in my name could my partner not apply for himself if that makes sense seen as money is in my name? 

KatrinaWaves

You are a couple, the claim is joint and your money is joint. He will not be able to claim income based benefits separately. 

Look on this positively. Yes some benefits will cease for a while but you have FORTY THOUSAND pounds to help make your life better. It’s really nothing to worry about... 

pmlindyloo

mummysthebest said:

Thankyou so only to inform income support. Yea we get hb ct aswell. Can I ask if we are joint claim and the money is in my name could my partner not apply for himself if that makes sense seen as money is in my name? 

You need to report it to Income Support and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.
Even if the money is in your name then it is still classed as joint savings because for benefit purposes you are classed as a couple so both yours and your partner's savings are counted.
You can still use some of the money to make your lives easier for you as a family.  As you have found out you need to be aware of deprivation of capital (savings). 
You will need to pay your own rent/council tax and some of your living expenses for a time.
If you wish to spend some of the inheritance on other things then I suggest that you ask the DWP and the council if those things would not be seen as deprivation of capital before you do so and get the answer in writing.  They cannot then say that you have deprived yourselves of capital if they have given you permission to spend on those things.
You could start to make a list of things that you might want to use some of the inheritance for but remember about the rent/council tax/other living expenses when you do!

mummysthebest

Thanks it’s more we will need it once it’s gone then it’s how we go about applying again and getting back into it as me or my partner can’t work due to the boys and they need round clock care so the money will be used to take them away as never done that get a family car to help with life , etc when we apply again do we have to prove any savings etc as possibly have about 5 left or round about that 

KatrinaWaves

If your savings have gone done ‘unusually quick’ then they may ask to see proof of what you have spent it on, but a decent car (not a Tesla) and a family holiday (not a round the world trip) would be absolutely fine, things for your house etc. You just can’t spend it solely to get back onto benefits if you understand me.

When you reapply you will probably be reapplying for UC (and council tax reduction) as I can’t see that you would qualify to go back into legacy benefits. 

tacpot12

Generally, when you are in a joint claim for means tested benefits this is because you have to claim jointly, so I doubt that your partner can claim separately, unless they move out and you are no longer living together as a couple.  

When you get this money, you should get a state pension forecast and check your national insurance contributions to see if there is anything you can do to increase your state pension entitlement. This might be a good use for some of the money. One advantage to putting money into either the state pension or a personal pension is that your partner cannot access the money. As a regular reader of the MSE forums, I've seen many cases where one person in a couple comes into some money, spends it on the partner, and is then upset when the relationship breaks down because the money is gone and they have nothing to show for it.

The MSE forums are a great place to get advice about how you might use the proportion of the money you want to save, but you will need to be careful about how you save or spend this money as the DWP may claim you have intentionally deprived yourself of your capital in order to claim benefits.  I would suggest you take advice before spending, saving or investing any large amounts of your inheritance. 

Congratulations, I'm sure it will make things much better for your family.  

mummysthebest

Thankyou it is just going on bills and debt I owe and also a family car and a family holiday to America as they want to go and I think I would never beable to afford it. So is child tax credits ok and my carers and cb