Receiving an unexpected lump sum, and what to do to save my current claim?

MovingForwards

Both you and sister can agree to refund anything that crops up out of your shares, equally, that way the money can get distributed. Only viable if sister is reliable and will do it.

[Deleted User]

MovingForwards said:

Both you and sister can agree to refund anything that crops up out of your shares, equally, that way the money can get distributed. Only viable if sister is reliable and will do it.

Would it be correct to distribute £6000 to both of us, and keep the remainder in a 'reserve' in order to pay off any other expenses?

I think this will cover the outlay for the funeral, plus a couple of other debts -- beyond that very little will be remaining, but this could then be distributed at a later date, when we knew everything was settled.

If I was to do this, would I risk getting in trouble for holding back funds, if the initial money had then been spent but there was still a remainder (say £1000)?

MovingForwards

You can make an interim distribution, retaining some for estate debts provided you do have an idea of how much debt there is to settle, otherwise you'll be asking your sister for some back.

Keep accurate records of everything in case anything is queried by the DWP.

I can't comment on the 'getting in trouble' side as I've next to no benefit knowledge to say and would suggest re-reading what the others have posted who do.

[Deleted User]

Well the money arrived, but I have not yet received any confirmation letter from DWP.

I paid my surviving sister her share of the funeral expenses, plus a personal debt she did not expect to see again.


I contacted DWP debt management and paid a couple of my sister's outstanding debts to them -- I also believe she owes them a further £500-600 from a PIP overpayment, but this is not showing in her account at the moment.

There's nothing in my own account regarding paying back the funeral grant -- yet.


I asked the Debt Management team if I should keep the amount 'on hold' to see if I hear back from them -- they agreed it was a good idea, and assured me the call was being recorded for my records.

Someone else is calming she owed them a few hundred; probably true but we have no proof and am querying this. 🤔


So, my final calculations are, after paying off various other debts, if they want money back from me, then I stand to benefit around £6100 total -- only marginally over the threshold.

I therefore awarded myself and my sister £6000 as interim payments, and paid off my water rates debt within twenty minutes of that. The rest of the money is in a separate account that I will only use for this.


If they don't chase me for the money, then it's going to be closer to £8200, but unless I hear otherwise, I won't be benefiting from that for quite some time.

I've got an appointment with CAB for tomorrow morning -- to make sure I've done this properly.

[Deleted User]

Just got off the phone to the CAB and their advice backed up everything above -- they also said that, because the money came from the DWP, and because I contacted their debt team, there should be a 'paper trail' demonstrating my attempt to be honest.

They also suggested that, because I contacted the DWP about repaying the funeral costs, and there was no request for the money at that time, I could potentially dispute this should anything surface in the future -- especially if the money gets spent -- but we shall cross that bridge if and when it comes to it.

Thank you all