Distribution of inheritance

skeaners

My dad died last year and him and his wife had universal credit which covered rent and council tax. But now making a claim for his wife she has way too much savings. What is the view if she decided to distribute inheritance now to reduce her savings to below £16k or is that unethical. It’s all set out in her will

mvteng

If you're in Scotland, its completely acceptable, and you and any siblings are completely entitled to claim your share of inheritance now

eskbanker

skeaners said:

My dad died last year and him and his wife had universal credit which covered rent and council tax. But now making a claim for his wife she has way too much savings. What is the view if she decided to distribute inheritance now to reduce her savings to below £16k or is that unethical. It’s all set out in her will

If she's inherited his assets then it's irrelevant what her will says - the money is hers for now and if she chose to offload it then this would typically be seen as deprivation of assets, which would still jeopardise a benefits claim if means-tested.  She could perhaps consult a solicitor about a deed of variance for his will that would redirect the inheritance to the next generation without becoming hers on the way, although the opportunity to do so may have passed....

When you say 'way too much savings', hopefully it's only by virtue of the inheritance that the combined savings exceed the threshold, i.e. he wasn't making any invalid claims when he was alive?

sevenhills

skeaners said:

My dad died last year and him and his wife had universal credit which covered rent and council tax. But now making a claim for his wife she has way too much savings. What is the view if she decided to distribute inheritance now to reduce her savings to below £16k or is that unethical. It’s all set out in her will

I would say its very much bending the rules(illegal), if it is not following your dads will. If you need this to get below £16k, I would say your parents are not spending enough.

Put the maximum allowed into a pension?

Its really just bad planning, everyone tries to avoid paying tax etc.

Newly_retired

Giving away money to reduce capital to under £16K would be seen as deliberate deprivation of assets in order to continue to claim benefits and is not just unethical but illegal and will result in having to pay back an overpayment.
On the other hand there may be mileage in doing a deed of variation, though it is my guess that this amounts to the same thing. If you ask on the benefits board there are many experts there.