Bereavement with child, advice for a dear friend

[mullers1977]

Hello

Looking for advice, help or any wisdom. A dear friend has recently lost his fantastic wife suddenly; they were total soul mates, and she was the driving force with finances, etc. They have a 12-year-old child who is disabled. She attends school and is taken by school transport. Her Dad works full-time, and it's a struggle for him to get to work around school hours, as his commute is very long. He is also often required to be away overnight, which really isn't going to work. His wife was a registered carer, but he has been told he can't be (I presume because he is still working); he's just had a bombshell bill (17K) for a benefit they received but shouldn't have; he has a mortgage and is worried if he loses his job, he will lose his house. Does anyone have any advice on what a good next step would be?

Thanks very much
x

He needs to contact citizens advice or maybe his mp for advice. If it’s overpayment of carers allowance then they will need to offer a payment plan. As to working and looking after a child, it’s tough if you don’t have help, is changing job to something wfh an option?

Oh God the poor guy.

Is he getting any help from his employer - some time or days working from home maybe? It all sounds very recent- should he be taking some time off? Has he seen his GP?

Is he getting the widow’s benefit, it is about 500 a month for 18 months?

I would definitely go to Citizens Advice with the benefits paperwork.

It’s a bit early but has he considered whether he has a spare room he could rent out? Difficult with his daughters needs but maybe there’s something that could work if he’s picky about who rents it?