Money from house sale and how long it should last

dingodollars

_BOSS_ said:

 If a pensioner couple were to sell their property, move into sheltered accommodation (which they pay fully for) and give away most of the profit from their house sale to their children in order to help them in life.....the question is how long would the authorities expect this money to last?

As an example: Say the profit was £120k and they split this 3 ways. 40k per child and keep 40k as a nest egg in a separate account not linked to either pensioner.

 The local housing office were aware of the house sale 2 years ago when the pensioners ceased claiming housing benefit. I know they can have up to 16k as savings but their bank accounts show very low savings.
 Would this be an issue in the event of any potential future claim for housing or council tax benefit?

Thank you for any potential help.
 

This sounds like it could fall under deprivation of capital, but my understanding is it’s very fact-specific — particularly intent and timing. The council usually looks at whether the money was given away to increase benefit entitlement rather than how long ago it was.

Interested to hear from anyone who’s dealt with this in practice though.

sgthammer

Put deprivation of capital to one side.

This couple stopped claiming housing benefit when they sold their house?

So they were claiming housing benefit for a house they owned? How? And for how long?

They're at it.

poppy12345

dingodollars said:

_BOSS_ said:

 If a pensioner couple were to sell their property, move into sheltered accommodation (which they pay fully for) and give away most of the profit from their house sale to their children in order to help them in life.....the question is how long would the authorities expect this money to last?

As an example: Say the profit was £120k and they split this 3 ways. 40k per child and keep 40k as a nest egg in a separate account not linked to either pensioner.

 The local housing office were aware of the house sale 2 years ago when the pensioners ceased claiming housing benefit. I know they can have up to 16k as savings but their bank accounts show very low savings.
 Would this be an issue in the event of any potential future claim for housing or council tax benefit?

Thank you for any potential help.
 

This sounds like it could fall under deprivation of capital, but my understanding is it’s very fact-specific — particularly intent and timing. The council usually looks at whether the money was given away to increase benefit entitlement rather than how long ago it was.

Interested to hear from anyone who’s dealt with this in practice though.

You’ve posted on a thread from Aug 2024 and the member hasn’t been active since then. 

Murphybear

Grumpy_chap said:

_BOSS_ said:

 If a pensioner couple were to sell their property, move into sheltered accommodation (which they pay fully for) and give away most of the profit from their house sale to their children in order to help them in life.....the question is how long would the authorities expect this money to last?

As an example: Say the profit was £120k and they split this 3 ways. 40k per child and keep 40k as a nest egg in a separate account not linked to either pensioner.

 The local housing office were aware of the house sale 2 years ago when the pensioners ceased claiming housing benefit. I know they can have up to 16k as savings but their bank accounts show very low savings.
 Would this be an issue in the event of any potential future claim for housing or council tax benefit?

Thank you for any potential help.
 

_BOSS_ said:

I think deprivation of assets is when you knowingly get rid of your assets so as to avoid issues further down the road or any impending illness that might see you have to move into care.

 They are both currently in good health and gifted their money to their children so they could see them enjoy it whilst they are still around. There was no intention of hiding money whatsoever, they just wanted to help out one of their children who was struggling a bit and they had the means to do so.

 The money from the sale of the house was paid into their daughters account as a just in case thing so as to avoid probate etc should the worse happen so their finances do not show any large sums of money at all but the council are aware of a house sale 2 years ago.

AIUI, deprivation of assets would be invoked here, both in relation to claiming means-tested benefits and in the event that future care is required.

The pensioner couple moving into sheltered accommodation are acknowledging some deterioration in their capabilities (hence the sheltered housing) and it seems entirely foreseeable, at that time, that future care needs might be required at a greater level than the sheltered housing.  To give away £80k from £120k of total assets is a significant proportion, given typical care home can exceed £1k per week.

What income does the couple have?

We live in sheltered housing and don’t have any deterioration in our capabilities.  There are 36 tenants and the only criterion for getting a place is being over 55.