to ask you if you know what benefits my sick MIL may be entitled to?

[Feckadeck]

Sorry I am more a lurker than a poster but am hoping you can offer me some help. DH and I live overseas and MIL is terminally ill - it's a very long term cancer and she was given 5 years to live around 7 years ago. Currently doing okay thankfully but had treatment last year which helped a lot. She gets tired but soliders on mostly. She has been married to SFIL for around 7 years now - he is 70 and retired. MIL is 5, worked when younger, was a SAHM while DH in primary then she had employment here and there up until around 10 years ago (not worked since).

My question is would she and SFIL be entitled to any benefits due to her ill health? The only income is his pension which we assume is quite small - we don't know for sure as they tend to hide things from us but we know they don't have a lot and there is some debt due to SFIL's own mother's healthcare (again not sure of the details).

I think CAB would advise them but she seems so set against it and we can't access from here to help her. DH just found out she had taken a parttime job for 'extra money' but it's 12hr shifts and I really don't think she is fit enough to be doing it. She told DH that she was told she did not have enough NI contributions to be entited to benefits - would that be true? I always though that mattered only for pensions and that her years as SAHM would count. I don't know the ins and outs of how it all works.

Sorry for some much text - not sure if all relevant but wanted to give some background. DH and I are quite worried about them and not sure how to help.

thank you so much...

oh sorry MIL is 56 not 5!!

Macmillan are doing an ad campaign atm which includes advice about benefits etc. Would she be prepared to access this ?

She should be able to claim disability living allowance and I think you can apply online. Go to directgov.uk and search for disability living allowance. DLA is non means tested and not based on national insurance contributions .

Who is she receiving her care from? When my mum was admitted to a hospice just before Christmas they had a welfare lady who came round and spoke to her about the benefits she could claim for if she was discharged. She should definitely be able to get DLA.

DLA and perhaps sickness benefits if she was unable to work, ESA I think it's called now. Plus she can get occupation therapy in to make any adjustments to make her life easier.

Macmillan are good, they were there with my auntie at the end and all through her terminal cancer. DIAL is a charity which can help with accessing benefits also.

Hi there

AFAIK benefits are either income based / contribution based; it's really hard to get income based support unless you have no savings, no partner etc; they tend to take into account the partner's savings too. I think a lot of women get caught in the not enough contributions trap if they take time out of their careers for children.

Macmillan Cancer Support have people who advise on benefits, hopefully they could help if she won't go to CAB?

whoops, cross posted on Macmillan! sorry

I am not sure if she would approach them LIZS - I am honestly not sure what her reluctance on this is. I have looked up the website and it's good with a benefits too. Will look at with DH tonight when get home and email MIL the details. Iwastooearly... thanks DLA makes sense. I just knew they wouldn't base it on NI contributions that would be crazy. Again will check out tonight and send MIL the links. Luckily she is visiting us soon so we want to be prepared to approach this with her in person and have some facts.

Disability Living Allowance definitely.
Not too familiar with working age sickness benefits, ESA I think. Don't know if that gateways them to Housing Benefit etc but your FIL being over retirement age might affect it somewhat.

Definitely get Macmillan to go through it all.

sorry crossed post with a few people there! I don;t think they have any savings at all which is the worry. I'll check those sites out and try to persuade her to get some good advice. She goes to a cancer clinic at the hospital - I am not sure who had advised her there. She shares a lot of details about things but hides what I would say were the important things. Its frustrating when we are so far away.

I'm not sure she would be entitled to DLA. Depends on how she is and whether she has care needs etc. Another benefit worth investigating is employment and support allowance which is what replaced incapacity benefit. You get it if you are ill and unable to work (although it's not straightforward). Last one I can think of is income support which is income dependent.

Maybe have a look at the direct.gov site? That has quite a lot of benefits info on it.

If her husband is on a small pension then he mey be entitled to pension credit and if they own their own home they could get council tax benefit. This would increase their joint income and decrease their outgoings. These are easy to apply for and I now that our local authority work with the department of work and pensions to help people claim these benefits.

I think you can also get some cash for winter fuel payments if you've had cancer / get a pension. Every little helps!

try the Benefit Enquiry Line

If she needs help doing daily tasks like washing, dressing etc she should get attendance allowance. It's not means tested either but there are two rates at which it is paid out

DLA sounds the main benefit. As others have said, its not means tested and she can still work if she wants.

If you order the forms over the phone 08457 123456 you will get any money awarded backdated to the order date.

The point is though, she will have to WANT to apply, also to get her GP to support.

Its a good benefit to get as it has a positive impact on rent and council tax too. Also Carers allowance may be payable if she gets high enough Care DLA element.

DLA can also be awarded under Special Rules if her condition is thought terminal -that is, if her life expectancy is thought to be under 6 months. This basically means any award can be fast tracked. You need form ds1500 from her GP or another professional involved in her care.

Finally, she could get ESA if she wants to give up work- either contribution or Income based. She needs sick certificates from her GP. Beware though -its now awarded following form filling and a medical and can be tough to get.

If she wants to go ahead, I would definitely get help from her GP and CAB/other benefit centre.