Help with money severely disabled adult staying at home

dr78

friend of mine has a severely disabled son who lives with her. He is now 19 so my friend can no longer get the benefits for him it all goes to him, she is obviously worried how she will cope now financially. Can anyone help here? Basically he will now get his own pip and uc and she will obviously loose her entitlements for him. How does it work for her now for help from him financially or is she not allowed to have any income from him to help towards the loss. If she can how does she work out a fair amount as it’s all very daunting to her as it’s also confusing because he’s not mentally capable of dealing with his own money. Has anyone got any experience of this or point me to some forums that might know? So basically want to know if she is allowed to charge some form or rent help for bills or is it not allowed and if it’s allowed how does she work out what would be classed as a fair amount so its not classed as abuse of his money.

elsien

If he has capacity around his finances, then it needs a discussion with him about what is fair for him to pay from his money, the same as any other adult child who is living at home on benefits whether disabled or not.

If he does not have capacity around his finances, then she can apply to be his appointee with the department of work and pensions, and continue to receive the money on his behalf. She then still needs to work out which is a fair amount to take for his keep and what he keeps his own needs and activities. 

Has she looked at the severe mental impairment disregard for council tax?

 https://www.gov.uk/become-appointee-for-someone-claiming-benefits#:~:text=DWP%20arranges%20to%20visit%20the,you're%20a%20suitable%20appointee.&text=If%20DWP%20agrees%20with%20the,the%20appointee%20until%20this%20happens.

it would be a good idea if she did go down the appointee route to set up a separate bank account in her name for the money to be paid into, so that it’s clearer where it’s going.

Keep_pedalling

Who currently has the authority to controls his finances? 

There should be no issue with some of his income being taken for his share of household expenses. 

dr78

He has no capacity at all. He is severely disabled. My friend does at present as he is still in education due to his disabilities but is not leaving education next month. I told her I will ring places for advice as she hates speaking on the phone. She is worried about working out a fair amount to use for living expenses as she said she can be checked and if it’s deemed the money is excessively taken they will take control of the money ? But she doesn’t know how to work out a fair amount . At present as she gets the pip and has the disability element in her uc she will loose the child element disability element and his pip. So it’s a lot to loose so she doesn’t know how much is ok to take without it being excessive it’s hard and I don’t know how to help her work it out as I don’t know . His social worker has done a dols ? For him to show he has no capacity 

itsthelittlethings

dr78 said:

He has no capacity at all. He is severely disabled. My friend does at present as he is still in education due to his disabilities but is not leaving education next month. I told her I will ring places for advice as she hates speaking on the phone. She is worried about working out a fair amount to use for living expenses as she said she can be checked and if it’s deemed the money is excessively taken they will take control of the money ? But she doesn’t know how to work out a fair amount . At present as she gets the pip and has the disability element in her uc she will loose the child element disability element and his pip. So it’s a lot to loose so she doesn’t know how much is ok to take without it being excessive it’s hard and I don’t know how to help her work it out as I don’t know 

Work out his share of all the bills, rent, food etc so that she is not losing any money. Then whatever is left over is money for him, his clothes, days out, hobbies etc which she then spends for him if he genuinely has no capacity.l at all around money. Or she controls some of this spending and gives him some money to spend out of the leftovers. She shouldn’t be out of pocket for having him living with her but neither should she massively be profiting. Depending on how disabled he is he may need to pay for her to do stuff with him as his carer.

itsthelittlethings

I see he’s in education, so I would have thought he has some capacity around money. So apply for appointeeship if necessary, apply for benefits in his own name, work out a share for bills, food etc, work out his share and then as appropriate support him or spend it on things like clothes and hobbies and give him a small amount of money for day to day spending.

Does he have a social worker? They will be able to advise.

dr78

He has a dols ? Done by social worker which shows he has no mental capacity. She is worried she can’t say do 50/50 bills as that prob will take a lot of his money. It’s the knowing what’s classed as fair as she is worried about a spot check and it being classed as a unfair amount so she wants to get it right and is panicked she can’t take any yet still fully cares for him 

marcia_

 This page has some useful information regarding young adults with disabilities. There us a 19-25yr old fact sheet at the end of the page

https://contact.org.uk/help-for-families/information-advice-services/education-learning/education-england/education-beyond-16/

itsthelittlethings

dr78 said:

He has a dols ? Done by social worker which shows he has no mental capacity. She is worried she can’t say do 50/50 bills as that prob will take a lot of his money. It’s the knowing what’s classed as fair as she is worried about a spot check and it being classed as a unfair amount so she wants to get it right and is panicked she can’t take any yet still fully cares for him 

Work out what his share of the bills are. 50/59 bills seems fair to me at first sight. Ask the social worker for advice if they have any ongoing contact.

Spoonie_Turtle

A good starting point is, what would she be asking from him if he weren't disabled?  An amount, a %?

Next, is it any different because he's disabled - do things cost more money, does he have expensive needs, are things somehow less expensive (e.g. if he's tube fed and gets his nutrition free on prescription, maybe an amount for food might not be necessary, but other things will still be)?  But usually the assumption is life is more expensive, that's the whole point of PIP - to cover the extra costs of disability.

Ultimately though the fact she's even concerned about having him contribute an appropriate amount puts her in good stead, as it means she'll consider it properly instead of just taking the whole lot without justification.  

And of course as an adult it would be right for him to contribute to family holidays, days out, those kinds of things as well as the everyday expenses.

dr78

Just said to her about it and she said she thinks she can’t touch the pip at all? Only uc and uc alone won’t cover even 1/4 towards the bills. I’m not sure on if she’s allowed to use PIP or not. So basically say pip will be around 600 a month at a guess and his uc will be around 400 a month and her bills are around 2000 a month and we believe she can’t touch the pip for living costs so just leaves his 400 which is obviously, only 25% of the bill cost which obviously then she couldn’t take this for universal credit this is the worry