Would this be considered a disposal of assets?

HillStreetBlues

pjs493 said:

 but I’m sure I could have bought a cheaper three bed terrace with small garden for less than what I’ve paid for a detached property with a large garden. Although in saying all that, it’s a fairly rural area and houses don’t come on the market very often. My options were really limited when I was looking. 

This I feel is crux of of any DoC.
Is it 'reasonable' for you to tie all your capital into a detached property thereby are then able to claim means tested benefits.

As per the great post by Spoonie_Turtle "significant purpose" doesn't mean only purpose. The main purpose would be giving your family a lovely home, but in buying it it could be ruled that in doing so a "significant purpose" was to  obtain a benefit that you wasn't entitled to before purchase.

It might be totally fine and not ruled as DoC but with the property you are buying it won't be as clear cut as buying a terrace house.

kaMelo

Regarding expenditure and Doc, a good question to ask yourself is " what would you do if there was no benefit system?"

It's not definitive but answered honestly may help in defining necessary expenditure and chosen expenditure.

Spoonie_Turtle

kaMelo said:

Regarding expenditure and Doc, a good question to ask yourself is " what would you do if there was no benefit system?"

It's not definitive but answered honestly may help in defining necessary expenditure and chosen expenditure.

That ties in well with one of the considerations, what the person was planning to live off once the money is spent.

OhWow

Sorry for your loss. 

It must be a really difficult time for you trying to work out what is best. If you read some of the older posts on here, a lot of people who live "fairly rural", find it difficult to find work or to find a good job. Those who ask for benefits, have stated that it's a long way to go for their visits to the Job Centre.

pjs493

HillStreetBlues said:

A question that could be asked, tying all your capital up in a property, if it's decided you wasn't entitled to income related benefit (because of DoC), how would you manage?
 

What does DoC mean? 

If it is decided I’m not entitled to anything then I’ll just have to struggle on my pension. If I didn’t buy my new home as a cash buyer, I’d have a mortgage which would increase my outgoings. I’d rather be mortgage free which leaves me better off in the long run because I won’t be paying interest on a mortgage. It gives me the security of a home for myself and my children without the risk of becoming homeless because I own my house outright. 

I’m not mentally in a position to return to work after the death of my husband. But even once I do return to work, I’ll be spending most of my income on childcare until my children reach compulsory school age. 

pjs493

kaMelo said:

Regarding expenditure and Doc, a good question to ask yourself is " what would you do if there was no benefit system?"

It's not definitive but answered honestly may help in defining necessary expenditure and chosen expenditure.

If there was no benefit system I’d just have to struggle by on my widow’s pension, I’d have to stop saving and use what I have to cover costs, I might even have to do things like sell my car which would put me in an even worse position with regards to getting to shops to buy food, ability to travel for work when I’m mentally able to return to work. 

With regards to renovating the house: I’m confident that rewiring and replacing the boiler and heating and hot water system on a professional recommendation is a sound decision. Alternatively, I could end up with no house if it burns down due to an electrical fault I’d failed to repair, or end up with no heating or hot water with two small children in the middle of winter if I don’t replace the boiler etc. The house needs to be habitable, I’m not planning on spending money on cosmetic redecoration but on things that will make the house safer and more energy efficient eg new boiler, loft insulation, which will in turn result in lower fuel bills. I want to do the kitchen because it’s not in a good condition and not fit for purpose. Sure I could arguably live using a microwave and a BBQ, but it would limit my options for feeding my children nutritious and healthy food. I don’t think having a decent kitchen is an unreasonable expectation. It’s not like I’m going out and spending £50k on a posh car or a 5* all inclusive holiday. Which I can completely understand would be considered a disposal of assets to intentionally get below the savings threshold. 

pjs493

Spoonie_Turtle said:

kaMelo said:

Regarding expenditure and Doc, a good question to ask yourself is " what would you do if there was no benefit system?"

It's not definitive but answered honestly may help in defining necessary expenditure and chosen expenditure.

That ties in well with one of the considerations, what the person was planning to live off once the money is spent.

My options would be: 1 to try and survive on my widow’s pension alone once savings had been completely depleted to cover basic things like bills, council tax, etc, 2 be forced back to work while in a state of poor mental health from what was an incredibly tragic and unexpected death of my husband of 20 years probably resulting in a complete breakdown. Also worth noting that given the ages of my children, I’d be spending almost the same in childcare as I’d be earning, 3 live in a house that isn’t renovated and spend lots of money on bodge job fixes as and when things fail, like the boiler, and hope the electrics don’t blow and cause the house to burn down because I haven’t fixed them. 

In any case, this would only be a short term situation. In time I’ll be in a position to return to work even though most of my wages will be spent on childcare until the children reach compulsory school age. Once they’re in school and I don’t have childcare costs I’ll be on a similar income to what we were surviving on as a family of four before my husband died. Moving closer to my family also means that, hopefully, my childcare costs will be reduced because everyone has offered to pitch in and help. 

At the end of the day, I didn’t ask to be in this situation. I didn’t want to be a young widow with two small children. My focus now is on providing them with a comfortable, safe, and stable home near family so that we can all recover from the nightmare we’ve been living through the last few months since my husband died. I don’t want to have to claim benefits, but I do want to do what’s best for my children and I think buying a suitable home near family is the right thing to do. 

Even if in the short term I’m told I’m not entitled to anything because I’ve decided to rewire a house and replace a boiler. I’d rather struggle for a year or two than have to pull out of my house purchase and buy something smaller that won’t be big enough once the children have grown into teenagers. My eldest child has lived in three different houses and he’s not even 3 yet. I want to live in a house that means we never have to move again. If I can provide them with stability and support from family in the long term, that’s important for me as it’s been traumatic having to struggle through life so far without my husband and their Daddy. They’ve been through enough already, I want to do the best I can for them for the future. 

pjs493

OhWow said:

Sorry for your loss. 

It must be a really difficult time for you trying to work out what is best. If you read some of the older posts on here, a lot of people who live "fairly rural", find it difficult to find work or to find a good job. Those who ask for benefits, have stated that it's a long way to go for their visits to the Job Centre.

I’m educated to PhD level have a really good job that enables me to work remotely with only occasional travel. I was on maternity leave when my husband died and when I was due to return from maternity leave, immediately went into compassionate leave. I can take up to two years of unpaid compassionate leave. 

With being a military spouse I often had to work from overseas locations and at one point I had a 200 mile commute when I needed to travel to work once a week while being heavily pregnant. So travelling doesn’t bother me. I won’t struggle to find work if I need to get a different job and can return from compassionate leave whenever I’m ready. But it will be a long time until I feel able to do that. If I wasn’t on compassionate leave I’d be medically signed off due to my mental health.  

Auti

@pjs493 - Move near family and your plans sound good. Different reasons but I had to do same for safeguarding and we lived in one room as so much had to be done, took a couple of years as money very tight but basics got done and children were settled and it was soon forgotten. I would apply after getting house and put as your reasoning what you have put here and be prepared to go to mandatory reconsideration if refused. 

You are logically setting you and yours up for a stable and productive future with the least time requiring government support given what you have written and your plans.

Murphybear

pjs493 said:

peteuk said:

pjs493 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

I'm sorry for your loss.

For more context, what is your current living situation?

We are currently living in military accommodation. My husband was serving in the military when he died. We can only stay here for a set grace period. However, it’s far away from my family and I want to move closer to family so I can have support and help with the children. 

Grace period for loss is 1 or 2 years, however you can extend this depending on circumstances, eg if you have a house sale going through or awaiting completion of renovations.

If at the point of leaving married quarters you are effectively homeless, then your husband’s unit welfare officer (who you should know already) will be able to direct you appropriately. 

In order to qualify for a funded move, we need to leave within a year. We can stay for two years (longer at Welfare discretion for the examples you give above or to avoid homelessness), but I want to move closer to family asap so they can support me and help with the children. 

I also don’t want to continue to pay rent when I can buy a house without a mortgage and not have that as an outgoing expense. I also want to move in time for the new school year in September so my children can be settled. 

The plan would be to renovate the house while living in it. Obviously replacing the kitchen will be a disruption, but family will help by bringing meals that can be heated in a microwave or having us over for dinner etc. If the weather is good I can also use the BBQ. The re-wiring will need to be done before furniture is moved in, but that shouldn’t result in too much of an overlap of having both properties.

We refurbished our first house together while living in it.  The bathroom was fine, the kitchen was stripped bare of everything but the kitchen sink.  It’s amazing what you can do with just a kettle, toaster and microwave