Gifted house / benefits

Shirl62

Good morning everybody. I am new on here. 15 years ago my mum signed her home over to myself and my siblings but remains living there.  Had completely forgotten about it. One of my siblings is concerned as he had claimed benefits.

Is he going to have a problem here with benefits claims historically? Thanks in advance

TELLIT01

Probably not, if the mother has retained the right to live there, there is no current value of the property to the siblings.  They should however inform DWP of the situation.

calcotti

TELLIT01 said:

Probably not, if the mother has retained the right to live there, there is no current value of the property to the siblings.  They should however inform DWP of the situation.

Not clear whether she is just living there or whether she has a legal right to remain there. If the latter the number I agree the property likely has no capital value. If the former then the situation could be different.

How old was mother when the property was handed over?

YBR

I have a friend in a similar situation, they found it very hard to persuade DWP that they could neither sell the house, nor evict their parents and live there themselves. They had to depend on the generosity of friends while it was all sorted out, and it was very stressful, but they did eventually succeed.

Meanwhile the parents are not maintaining the house, nor can my friend afford to do so while renting their own place and living on benefits. Plus it would probably be considered deprivation of assets if the parents needed nursing care. 

Totally seems to have been a bad decision for them, sadly.

Shirl62

calcotti said:

TELLIT01 said:

Probably not, if the mother has retained the right to live there, there is no current value of the property to the siblings.  They should however inform DWP of the situation.

Not clear whether she is just living there or whether she has a legal right to remain there. If the latter the number I agree the property likely has no capital value. If the former then the situation could be different.

How old was mother when the property was handed over?

Tx for your reply.  Mum is just living there.  No rent was ever charged essentially it’s her home.  She was about 66 when she signed it over.  

Shirl62

YBR said:

I have a friend in a similar situation, they found it very hard to persuade DWP that they could neither sell the house, nor evict their parents and live there themselves. They had to depend on the generosity of friends while it was all sorted out, and it was very stressful, but they did eventually succeed.

Meanwhile the parents are not maintaining the house, nor can my friend afford to do so while renting their own place and living on benefits. Plus it would probably be considered deprivation of assets if the parents needed nursing care. 

Totally seems to have been a bad decision for them, sadly.

I think mum did it possibly for the reason you outline.  She never needed nursing care.  Hope it doesn’t cause any issue for my brother.  Tx for your reply 

calcotti

Shirl62 said:..She was about 66 when she signed it over.  

The reason I asked about age is that a property owned by a claimant is completely disregarded if the property is lived in by a close relative who has reached State Pension age.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1076737/admh2.pdf

H2048 Premises that are occupied as the home by a close relative of a person are disregarded indefinitely where the close relative has

1. LCW or
2. reached the qualifying age for SPC.

H2049 A close relative in relation to a person means

1 1. parent..

Your sibling should therefore be fine. Nonetheless they should have disclosed the details so that a DWP Decision Maker can confirm that the disregard applies.

Shirl62

Thank you for all this information.  Much appreciated