On benifits and have been left inheritance

You are right that your inheritance is not income (in terms of a regular receipt of employment or benefit income, for example) but capital (such as savings, investments, etc) is taken into account for means tested benefits like income support, housing benefit and council tax.

Your income is viewed as shared household income with your partner so I'm not sure there will be an issue with joint or single named bank accounts, i.e.where/how you hold the money. In other words, your inheritance may affect your partner's Income support, depending on how much it is.

A claimant is expected to use their capital over a certain amount to pay towards their everyday living expenses (rent, council tax, groceries, etc). Capital over 6k starts to reduce means tested (income based) benefits and capital over 16k rules it out. There are rules in place that stop claimants from intentionally depriving themselves of their capital in order to claim benefits (for example, gifting money to others).

I don't know what you mean about a private bank account, perhaps you mean one in your own name but you are obliged to inform all the relevant organisations about your capital so you are not permitted to conceal it (by paying it into a secret account, if that's what you mean).

I am in roughly the same position and I am personally finding it all a nightmare, with deprivation of capital rules. I rang the DWP direct, hoping for some official clarity and was told it is a 'grey area' and will only be decided when the money is spent. I was given a 'rough' figure of what was reasonable to spend each month and this was a few hundred less then I spend now, and that is without paying full HB and CTB.

It would appear at the moment that I am going to be having a lower standard of living with the inheritance then I did without it and I am worried about my paid support and if I dare even continue to have that.

I am going to keep every receipt and be very careful, but worry that I will become terrified of spending any money, even on a day to day basis.

If I could I would give the entire inheritance to charity, but that would be deprivation of capital and while I fully understand that I should pay my way with the money and agree with that, my mental health is not too good and worrying I do something wrong and cannot reclaim benefits when I need to, is not helping at all.

I have been homeless in the past and I have a constant fear that this could happen again anyway, so the thought of not being able to pay my rent through loss of benefit, is really worrying.

I have wrote to my MP to see if he can help me in anyway to seek any clarity or anything in writing from the DWP and I have expressed my concerns at the lack of any actual guidelines on reasonable expenditure and the fact that the decision regarding deprivation of capital is only made in retrospect and depends upon individual decision makers and how they interpret the rules.

I have read so much around inheritance and declaring capital and can assure you if you are thinking for one minute of trying to keep this inheritance 'secret', it is not a matter of if they find out, but when they find out...the ways of the DWP and related departments knowing you have that capital are numerous and they will, without doubt, sooner or later find out.

welshone27 wrote: »

A few hundred? Either the DOC rules are extremely strict or people are receiving way to much in benefits. Both myself and my husband work and we don't have a few hundred to spend each month after bills....

Not a go at you, just the government in general. Keeping receipts is important from what I've read.

If you are not having a go at me but at the Government why do you not e-mail the relevant MP in the Government regarding your concerns? it only takes the same amount of time it takes to post your concerns on here.

Alternatively, do like I did when working for 30 years, study and re-train until you have employment that pays way more then benefits ever could.

I use to earn in 6 days freelancing, what I now receive in 1 month on benefits, so if I could choose between working and disability benefits, well - the choice I personally would make is obvious.

I was not just lucky at that point in my life - I worked and studied very, very hard for many years to be able to achieve the earnings I did.

I am now unable to work, not my choice, and I am very grateful for the benefits I receive that cover not only my bills (everyone pays bills working or not at the same rate) but also covers the extra costs of my disabilities. I pay £12.50 per hour for help with housework alone, added to which I pay carers for personal needs and often need to use taxis for hospital, GP appointments etc. I seem to spend a lot of my life in taxis, or waiting to see GP's, consultants, physios, the hospital I attend is a 50 mile round trip and 2 bus changes and I cannot manage that, to see my cardiologist it is 60+ miles. If I am hospitalised, and I often am, it costs me £56.00 per week to kennel my little companion and after 28 days in hospital my DLA stops and this needs to be paid out of my basic benefits + I still have to pay some household bills, so not easy. I have had varying hospital stays from a few days to several months. My choice I know to have a little companion, but he is very often my lifeline.

You do not know me and you do not know my support/care needs, to say 'or people are receiving far to much in benefits' is a generalisation without taking into account the differing circumstances and differing levels of support/care needs of individual claimants.

You always have the choice to leave employment and go on benefits - although I think you may find that the reality is very different from some of the urban myths that have built up around benefits.

I believe, although I could be wrong, that a fit and healthy single person, over 25, would be entitled to £71.00 per week JSA and housing costs - hardly generous. I know it is only suppose to be a short term measure but, sadly, for many in today's climate it is not, and how a person is suppose to pay all bills, food, house cleaning products, toiletries and transport costs out of £71.00 per week is, for me at least, very hard to comprehend. I have read somewhere on this forum, that if benefits had kept in line with inflation that sum would now be £120.00 per week-that would be more generous. I believe you being a couple would be entitled to about £111.00 per week and housing costs - depending on your LHA rate of course, if in rented accommodation, you may have to pay a top-up out of the amount the law says you need to live on and if owner occupiers I believe you get some help towards the interest on your mortgage.

I do agree, however, that disability benefits are generous, but you must bear in mind the related costs of the disability. I must add that when I was able in both mind and body, and was earning a wage, I never felt the need to compare my situation to someone disabled and on benefits, like the saying goes 'sure have my disability benefits, but you have to have my disability/disabilities with them'. I think you would soon hand the benefits back!

I am justifying my disability benefits to you, not because I have to, but because despite your protest that you are not 'having a go at me' that is the way it comes across, also at least one of the people who have so kindly thanked you needs to know what the true financial costs of disability can be, having read and seen their thanks on other threads.

Thank you for mentioning about the importance of keeping receipts although I was aware of that, it does not hurt to be reminded.

Take care

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I am sorry that your inheritance has added to your stress and reduced your standard of living. I think you can be confident that unless the amount you spend each month is a good deal more than you were previously receiving in benefits you will not suffer from the rules on DoC.

I totally agree. If you're living off your own money, you can be expected to spend at least as much as you were spending before plus some capital expenditure used in replacing old/broken/worn out equipment and household goods.

I think most people worry too much about DOC. Unless you're thinking of buying a top of the range new car, having a first class cabin on a world cruise or giving lump sums away so that you can start claiming benefits again, stop worrying.

Voyager2002 wrote: »

At a sad time such as this it seems insensitive to worry about money. Anyway, if the will leaves open how the inheritance is to be shared between the two children, you might agree to allow a greater share to pass to your sister since the money will be of greater benefit to her family than to yours. You cannot, of course, give money to her nor refuse the inheritance since then the rules on deprivation of capital would mean that your benefit would be stopped.

Making a deed of variation to this effect will be seen as giving money away. Painted Horse will be assessed as if he/she had received the full inheritance.