Mum received inheritance but is on ESA & PIP

[FullofSurprises]

I need some help regarding inheritance and wondering if someone can point me in the right direction.
My mum has come into inheritance after her lifelong partner passed away and left her in his will.
She has long term illnesses and has been on ESA and PIP for quite some time.

Originally she wanted to just gift me the money as she did not want to lose her benefits but we've found out today it's not as simple as that, and that even she were to give the money away she would still be classed as having the money.

How can this be right? She never asked to be on his will and I know she would never have accepted this had she of known this would be the outcome.
She is worried now and really doesn't know what to do.
Does anybody know a way around this?

I thought PIP wasn't means tested? And if she has money surely she should use that to support herself, benefits should be for when you can't support yourself, no?

PIP isn't means tested so she'll still get that
She will need to live off the inheritance until it drops to the allowed level
I'm not sure why she should be so worried. She'll still have an income and, when her capital falls, can still claim benefits

She's on ESA for her disabilities which is means tested @lanbro I understand what you're saying. She has schizophrenia and change like this triggers her she's already started panicking.

She can decline the inheritance. It will then pass to his next of kin. Unfortunately that’s unlikely to be you.

I should probably point out that she never intended to keep the money. And still doesn't want to. I don't see a way around this now though.

She will still get PIP as it isn’t means tested. She will likely lose her ESA from what you are saying, but I don’t see the problem there as she has the money to live on anyway.

No, she can’t intentionally deprive herself of assets to keep benefits.

I’m sorry, I really don’t understand what the problem is? Benefits are for people with no other money, but your mum has money now.

@Glamazoni we have been told that if she declines, it can be classed as deprivation of capital as she is on the will regardless.

Okay, crosspost - so with the schizophrenia, this change in circumstances has upset and confused her?

Does she have any kind of support worker who can help her through this? Do you have POA for her? If so, the burden of arranging her finances could come off her shoulders that way.

Has she already accepted it?

We've tried arranging this via adult social services they've deemed her only necessary for a short term plan that's it.
There is nobody overseeing her currently.

Can someone tell me if a deed of variation would work?

Is there any chance she's on contributions-based ESA, if she'd made enough NI contributions before becoming too ill to work?

Contributions-based ESA is also not means-tested.

You'll need to check her paperwork to find out.

(Before anyone throws their toys about non-means-tested ESA, the purpose is that it is more like the contribution-based state pension – yer pays yer stamp, yer collects yer payout if you're unlucky enough to need it. And you still have to go through the notorious DWP/ATOS tests.)

I think contributions-based is now restricted to only six months, then it's means-tested or nothing?

OP, a deed of variation is possible but all the beneficiaries would have to agree. Is your mum the only beneficiary? Is it over £16k?

Sadly she's on the support group ESA. She has been told she can never work as she's just so mentally unwell she can't.
I don't understand how she's supposed to survive now as even she takes the money and lives off of that, she can be scrutinised for making purchases they would deem unnecessary meaning she wouldn't be able to reclaim in the future.

@JamieLeeCurtains the beneficiaries are my mum and sister. My sister is happy for my mum to gift me her portion. The amount is a five figure sum, so more than £16k yes.

Would it be possible to do a deed of variation between the legatees so that, for example, it goes to you and your aunt?

@Butterer that would be a really good idea. At least it would look like she was still receiving the same amount to her and wouldn't cause panic. But yes I'm concerned she would buy something and not realise it could be scrutinised.

@newtb I'm trying to find out whether a deed of variation is possible or whether it would still be classed as deprivation of capital currently.

If she’s inheriting a 5 figure sum that’s more than £16000 then she’s getting between £17000 and £99000 and she doesn’t need benefits.

Stick it in a separate bank account and set up a transfer every week / month into her current bank account for the same amount of benefits as she gets now and she will never know the difference.

I'm in the support group but get contributions based esa

If you know how much esa she gets a week look on the gov site and it will tell you what type it's for

Mines about £117 a week, no end date and not means tested

Ah, cross post with someone who has had the same idea!

@superstar84 I think she gets £194 a week ESA. I'm not sure what group this puts her in but I believe she gets the severe disability element.

A deed of variation IS deprivation of capital... if they find out about it (unlikely) and if the reason for doing it is to gain entitlement to benefits (so make another excuse e.g. she refuses to accept his money for some moral reason).