To think sister needs to declare inheritance

[CanIhavedessertfirst]

Ok, this is a bit of a looooong story, so bare with me.

My sister lost her dad in November (we have different dads) and inherited £27,000. He had a council property and she has now acquired the tenancy and, as it was her father's home, she wants to say there for the foreseeable and I think it's most definitely the security she needs.

We have now lost our grandparents and are both set to inherit a sum of money each, adding to the capital she will have.

My sister receives esa and also housing and council tax benefits, she has always lived at home and never had such a large amount of money. She is by no means stupid, she is very careful with budgeting and saving, but I think she's being a tad naive in this situation.

I met with her today and she said her step mum (also received £27,000) has been spending her share so that she doesn't have to declare it to the dwp (am I wrong in thinking they will find out eventually?). My sister hasn't spent her share (she's a little more savvy) but hasn't told the dwp she has come into money. Today the tenancy was signed over to her and the housing association are aware her dad has passed away. She said she had to show bank statements, etc.

I worry she has done the wrong thing and she is going to end up in trouble. We have only just started speaking again, after almost a year (family stresses and shit) and neither of us speak to my mum, so basically I am the only family she has left. I don't know what to do, because I feel like I'm not in any position to tell her what to do (she's 26) but equally I know this probably counts as fraud. She says her dad and his solicitor were clever and that may be true, but she's my little sister and I worry.

Can anyone give me some advice? My husband thinks I should mind my own business and let her deal with any fall out, but I don't want to let her down by knowingly letting her get into shit.

You would be reasonable to advise her to declare it to DWP but you can't really do any more.

Leave it

from memory the DWP automatically get copies of probate at some point after its issued

They will see who the inherits and if check if they are getting any benefits
They also do this to see if they are owed any back payments from e deceased estate like pensions& benefit payments paid out after death

Alos if she is paying it into her bank account the same one that she gets her ESA into and paying tax on it that will flag it up to the DWP as well

You can google this use the words DWP and inheritance and then maybe show it to her
They might not get her right now but they will do at some point
The only way is if it's was in a form of trust for her as generally that won't count

*You are not worried, you are jealous.

It's very spiteful to report her*

Learn to read petbear OP does not say anywhere about reporting her sister you made that up and as for the jealous comment that's just stupid, not everyone is jealous that's a lazy pathetic thing to say.

OP I don't blame you for being worried, but if she doesn't want to listen / be advised there's not much you can do. Step back and hope the worst doesn't happen.

@Rudgie47 I didn't know what the cut off was, but I will let her know what info.

@Babyroobs I'll also tell her that. I think she'd be better off reading things for herself than having me tell her tbh.

@CycleHire the step mum has written about the money of facebook 'booking a holiday with the money my man left me' and that kind of thing, and I think that stuff will end up being the thing that gets my sister caught. The step mum certainly hasn't kept it quiet, but she owns her house so has less to lose.

If you're left over a certain amount £20k
I think you have to apply for a Grant of Probate to enable you to deal with the deceased persons estate. The bank wouldn't release the deeds or funds in his bank with out the grant of probate.
It's basically to check the will is genuine ect.
Plus the bank must be able to see the DWP payments and the huge amount in the bank. You don't know what goes on between the banks and the DWP.

@Magpiemagpie I'm not sure, but I'd assume the account was the same. I will let her know.

@changemyname1 I did wonder where she got the reporting from.

Solicitors generally do not give welfare benefit advice. I don't know what you should do OP, either saying something or not could lead to problems in the future.

Just FYI regarding housing benefit a working age adult with savings of £16000 or more cannot get the benefit at all. The rules are similar for Council tax reduction though each council has its own rules. ESA may or may not be affected.

"If you or your partner have more than £16,000 in capital, you will not get any Housing Benefit, unless you are getting the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit.

If you or your partner have capital of over £6,000, you will be assumed to have some income from that capital."

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/help-if-on-a-low-income/housing-benefit/help-with-your-rent-housing-benefit/

Deliberately spending any savings to then claim benefits is called "deliberate deprivation of capital". At minimum it will lead to overpayment, there could be a civil penalty or more serious an investigation or prosecution for fraud.

www.entitledto.co.uk/help/savings

I’m a benefits advisor. I see this situation a lot. If she’s on income related benefits and gets found out she will have to pay money back, be treated as though she still has the money therefore potentially no income (no income related benefits if you have 16k+) and she could up with a fraud conviction. Tell her to declare it now.

@SingaSong12 I know it's not remotely similar, but I did tell her that I was once overpaid tax credits and 2 years later, right on top of Christmas, I had a bill for £270. Small time in comparison, but I thought it might give her some insight.

If you don't know what 'probate' and 'executor' means and your "little sister" does then I think she is probably more informed about her situation than you might suspect. I think you have voiced your concerns to her about being careful with 'declaring' her inheritance - which doesn't affect every "benefit" by the way. The Inheritance might still be in Probate and the Executors have yet to pay the Beneficiaries.

They can put you in jail for it now.

@backaftera2yearbreak thank you! I think I might show her this post and some of the comments. She can't even say she needed furniture as she is still at the home she shared with her dad, complete with furniture.

Some of it can be reasonably spend. If she has esa she could use it to help improve her condition (support worker? AIDS or appliances?) There are no hard and fast rules though. A decision maker would look at how money is spend and each case would be looked at individually.

@HateIsNotGood I know what an executor is - I didn't say I didn't - I have a very minimal understanding of probate as it's not something I've ever been affected by pr had to worry about.

Once she gets below 16k. She'll become entitled to her benefit again. Just at a reduced amount I think they then take £1 for every £250 she has. Unless the rules have changed

She must declare it if she is in receipt of benefits and then DWP will decide what she is entitled to receive. After all, why on earth should tax payers be funding housing benefit for someone in social housing and council tax benefits with over £27k in the bank.

@Stickerrocks I would have honestly thought it was that simple, but I think so many people would try and hide it. I am 30 years of age and still scared of rules, hence my worry on my sister's behalf.

She is quite probably cheating the system especially on the housing benefit. Report her if you like. Benefit cheats are everybody's business as it is theft of public money.

@Awwlookatmybabyspider I know when I claimed JSA, almost 10 years ago now, I was only entitled to the ni credits because I had savings. I just can't remember what I had at the time and I don't have a clue whether esa is looked at differently. I'm gonna send her these links anyway.

You are a Fab sister. Have a sit down with her and discuss that savings over £6000 will impact on her ESA. Then you can discuss how to approach the issue. Good Luck 🙈🙉🙊

Sounds like you have already warned her as best you can so that’s all you can do. Beyond that, let it go.

She could get in a lot of trouble, she’s claiming housing benefit but is not entitled to it (I think the cut off point is £6000?

I’m not sure if I would report her but she should not be claiming.

People are paying taxes to keep her in her house when she can afford to pay her rent.

My relative who is visually impaired recently received an inheritance from her dad & used it to repay her mortgage. Then she panicked and rang DWP, as she hadn't even realised it could be an issue. She had been relying on her DC to read the relevant info to her! DWP actually took a really pragmatic approach in her case, but technically they could have tried to prosecute. Your DS may think she is quite savvy with money, but honesty is the best policy as she will undoubtedly get caught out & is unlikely to be as clever as she thinks she is.

She needs to declare it.
Housing benefit definitely stops if savings are over £16k.
If they find out, at best it will be an overpayment, at worst a prosecution.
If she spends the money she needs proof of what she spent it on. It doesn't matter what she spends it on but she will have to prove it has gone.
She can't give it away eg to a child they will still count her as having it.
I don't know the EAST rules but you sign a declaration to say you will report changes of circumstances.
Tell her to report it to ESA and Housing Benefit