Depravation of assets UC

[Dakmor]

Hi everyone.
My Mum died of covid 19 after contracting it whilst in hospital after having a fall.
I'm a grandma myself and have two of my Granddaughters living with me under social services..I have an Special guardian order for both aged 11 yrs.
I get by on UC with housing benefit and family allowance.
Once I have sold the house I will need to pay estate agents solicitor and my brother who paid the funeral bill with his visa credit card..
I will be left with around £40,000.
I don't drive but have always wanted too as the girls have to taxi to school everyday and have clubs, friends etc quite far away.
So my question is..If I bought a car and paid for lessons maybe a new Nissan Quashqi..and also I'm propping my TV up by the chimney breast to stop it falling over, so need a new one, I need a few new white goods and a settee as mine is broken beyond repair, and also a visit to see my sister overseas who I haven't seen for over 12 years (australia) will I be seen as depriving my assets?
As this will be lots of expenditure in possibly a two week period and will also see me fall under the £6, 000 threshold for benefits..Do you think they will see this as excessive or do my purchases seem valid.

Doesn't exactly sound like she's living the life of riley though does it with three grandchildren to bring up ?

It doesn't matter what kind of life she is living.

Op could be saving the state a fortune if the alternative for the children was going into care or something.

She could well be, but she doesn't get to justify this by the fact she takes care of them

And if op had inherited this ten years later when her grandkids had flown the nest, it likely wouldn't matter and she could spend it on whatever she likes without having to worry ?

Well no, it's nothing to do with the grandchildren and everything to do with the housing benefit claim. So unless OP was working and paying rent then she would still be subject to the same rules. Whataboutery has no place here though.

@rainbowthoughts

Doesn't exactly sound like she's living the life of riley though does it with three grandchildren to bring up ?

It doesn't matter what kind of life she is living.

Op could be saving the state a fortune if the alternative for the children was going into care or something.

She could well be, but she doesn't get to justify this by the fact she takes care of them

And if op had inherited this ten years later when her grandkids had flown the nest, it likely wouldn't matter and she could spend it on whatever she likes without having to worry ?

Well no, it's nothing to do with the grandchildren and everything to do with the housing benefit claim. So unless OP was working and paying rent then she would still be subject to the same rules. Whataboutery has no place here though.

She likely would be working and not claiming Uc if she wasn't bringing up 3 grandkids though surely ?

How does the DWP know about an inheritance?
You have to tell them. Failure to do so is fraud. They would ultimately find out anyway.

I used to work at DWP and made decisions on DoA.
It's not so much what you spend but the motive behind it. Are you spending it all just to get back on benefits?
Someone who inherited £40k would cease to be entitled to benefits when it was received. If they spent it all in two weeks and reapplied it might appear the intention of the spending was to obtain benefits, even if the things bought seemed reasonable.

FWIW no-one can fly to Australia ATM. Even if the UK government gives the go ahead the Australian borders are closed to foreigners.

She likely would be working and not claiming Uc if she wasn't bringing up 3 grandkids though surely ?

It's irrelevant though. She is inheriting now, not in several years. I don't see why point you have.

I bought a 2 year old Fiesta 6 years ago for £6000. It is still going strong and I used to regularly drive 800 Mike's a week in it.

There is no need to spend £15k if you are generally strapped for cash.

Miles.

@rainbowthoughts

She likely would be working and not claiming Uc if she wasn't bringing up 3 grandkids though surely ?

It's irrelevant though. She is inheriting now, not in several years. I don't see why point you have.

The point is that the tone of your posts is making out that she is some kind of benefit scrounger trying to find ways to avoid paying her rent ! The point I am making is if it were not for the fact that she has taken on the sole care of 3 grandchildren thus potentially saving the state a fortune, she would likely be in no position to need to apply for Uc in the first place. I am aware that she is inheriting the money now and so her Uc will cease if she has more than 16k and that there is nothing that can be done about it. I am just saying that is an unfortunate situation for op that her one chance to inherit a modest sum of money can likely not be spent how she wishes because she has taken care of her grandchildren. I appreciate you can't seem to feel any sympathy with the situation op finds herself in, but I can. meanwhile there are others in a similar situation still on the old tax credits system who could inherit this amount of money and not have this worry at all because you can basically have as much in savings as you like and only have to declare interest. It's a very unfair system.

The point is that the tone of your posts is making out that she is some kind of benefit scrounger trying to find ways to avoid paying her rent !

She is trying to find ways to avoid paying the rent

@Milkywaystars

It's such a shame that people who are in need of a small cash injection to make their lives better are penalised. Whereas there seems to be money in the public purse for £800 rolls of wallpaper for No 10 Downing St.

The OP can keep £6k without it affecting UC, which is more in savings than many

Your uc will stop as soon as you receive the money 5k is more then enough to spend on first car replacing good and furniture is fine so is repairs to the house you may need to prove all of this though holiday would probably be an issue as it would cost a Fortune, once you are below 16k you can reclaim benefits but be prepared to have to prove alot of stuff

Hi.
Thank you for all of your comments and advice.
Just to clarify a few things.
I am NOT going on a wild spending spree to deprive myself of assets just to carry on receiving UC.
Before social services knocked at my door with my Granddaughters I worked full time and none of this would have been relevant.
I had to give up my job to care for them as My hours of work were 11am until 10pm 4 days a week.
Correct I don't live an extravagant lifestyle, far from it.
Once my bills are paid, clothes, food shop, etc I'm left with around £20 a week.
ALL of my furniture is secondhand, in fact I'm 53 and have never actually owned a brand new settee in fact the only new thing I have ever bought was a mattress and a washing machine.
This is my one chance to buy new.
As for the car yes, I do agree that secondhand is the way to go but can't go small I would prefer a Quashqi or similar.
Yes, solicitors are duty bound to notify DWP however I NEVER mentioned trying to hide the inheritance..I will be open and honest with what I purchased and also can supply Letters from social services stating that the items purchased were needed and not purchased on a whim.
I can't give my sister money for airfare nor can I put money into an Isa or bonds it's all classed as deprivation of assets..
Finally ..yes, some people can spend £950 on a roll of wallpaper and say John Lewis furniture isn't good enough...my Mum and Dad worked hard to buy thier home to leave me a quarter of what someone paid for a quick refurb. 😀😀

@Starstruck2021

How does the DWP know about an inheritance?

When an inheritance is paid out, HMRC notified by the payee.

@rainbowthoughts

The point is that the tone of your posts is making out that she is some kind of benefit scrounger trying to find ways to avoid paying her rent !

She is trying to find ways to avoid paying the rent

Oh Rainbow thoughts. .if you knew me personally you would realise that I hate every minute of my "life on benefits". It really hit a nerve reading this, I wrote this post and joined Mum's net to enquire about what I am legally allowed to buy...not for one minute did I ask will my benefits stop, I know they will stop I just don't want to get into trouble. I privately rent and am quite prepared to "pay my rent" to the tune of £550 a month, so either way the £25, 000 I will be left with after car purchase etc will soon be eaten away by rent and council tax. And when I said £15,000 for car this also covered lessons, theory, test, Insurance.

Your OP involved a brand new car and leaving your savings under £6k so a far cry from what you have posted in your response here.

Rainbow thoughts, yes I did initially say I would like to buy a new car but I had in mind that it would last longer and wouldn't need a lot spending on it with repairs etc..
And yes, I mentioned the £6, 000 threshold because that is what I had read when doing a bit of searching online for advice.
Which there isn't much to be honest, however I will take the advice of others and try and ignore any further posts by you, given the fact I lost my beloved Mum to covid 4 months ago, attended her funeral alone, hadn't seen her for 8 weeks and couldn't even say goodbye because the coffin lid had to be closed and sealed...I am a cheerful person really, who thanks her lucky stars every day that my two girls are safe in my care and away from the shit life they were living.
As for being took to a tribunal which was suggested by another poster, if that happens I will go and I will take letters from social services and my MP with me.
I am a decent person and not a dole scrounger and I also become a lion when it comes to my Granddaughters. .so will I will fight all the way to give them everything and more.
Babyroobs thank you for understanding..yes 100%I would be working if I could, I miss it so much, work was my social life as well as my working life xx

Make sure you keep all receipts of what you spend as they may want to look at them. Any savings between 6k and 16k they deduct around £4.35 out of every £250 above the 6k from your entitlement. I would personally get some advice from uc themselves to avoid and problems imo

Nobody with more than £16,000 in capital is allowed to claim any means tested benefits in the UK. Do you think this limit seems a bit low? The reason for that is because it has not been increased for 33 years!

If you think that is not fair, you might be interested in one of the petitions on the UK parliament website at the moment, which is calling for a substantial increase in the benefits capital limit (petition number 590695).

If the moderators will allow me to include a link, you can find it at:

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/590695

If you agree, you might wish to consider consider signing this petition and sharing it on social media, etc.

You could go back to work finding something with standard hours then your savings won’t matter if you aren’t claiming.
A long haul holiday and brand new car will very likely be seen as deprivation though as neither are a necessity whereas rent and food are.

Hi OP,
@Babyroobs

"It would be different if they had been left money directly in the will but that doesn't sound like it's the case."

This comment got my mind whirring. It is possible to alter (vary?) a will as long as the beneficiaries agree. This alteration would mean the money is never yours - it would be direct from the estate to the beneficiary.

You could ask your solicitor if it would be possible to vary the will for e.g. leaving 10k to each of your granddaughters and 10k to you.

I assume you would be the nominated adult to help them manage their accounts as they live with you. If not you then maybe their social worker. Then the money is managed in their best interests - and working white goods/furniture/bedroom decoration/extra curricular/birthdays and Christmas etc all in their best interests in my opinion. I think this would maximise the money you have available to care for your grandchildren.

I think if you do a deed of variation in a will it could still be seen as deprivation of assets