DWP might want to claim against grandfather’s estate

[Fannydango]

I’m the executor. I had to apply for probate to get £30k he had in bonds. Probate was straightforward and the money was paid to me.

But I’ve just had a letter from DWP asking to confirm these details and telling me I must not distribute the estate yet as their enquiry “could lead to a claim against the estate”. I’m really worried that my grandad might not have declared that he had this £30k and maybe wasn’t entitled to as much disability allowance/pension credits as he was getting - for one of the beneficiaries, their share of the inheritance is a real lifeline. Am I likely to have to pay a lot back??

If he was in receipt of means tested benefits , he MIGHT have been overpaid .

There isn’t a savings limit for Pension Credit. However, if you have over £10,000 in savings, this will affect how much you receive

if he didn’t declare his £30,00 he may have been paid more than he was entitled to so it will need to be paid back.

Oh my, I feel sick…

Potentially if hes failed to declare his savings then yes they could stake a claim

Did he have other assets than the 30k of bonds? It is likely the estate may have to pay back over claimed benefits sorry.

As long as you've not spent it, you can still pay it back easily?

No other assets, no. Yes, I still have the money and could pay it all back. Would they add interest though? If it went back years could I potentially have to pay back more than his estate was worth?

Reason I feel sick is, like I say, one of my family members was so relieved to be receiving their share of the money as they really need it at the moment..

Any money owed the DWP will come from your uncles estate. You won’t be liable to pay anything back yourself

Your family member will be disappointed but there's no need to feel sick!
That's how these things work out sometimes. Turns out his estate is much smaller than you all thought.
If he had declared it, he may have received less from dwp and had to spend the £30k. It still wouldn't have been yours. Depends on how you look at things

yes, I see what you mean. The worse thing by far of that he would be so upset that we’re having to deal with this situation.

Your not responsible for any of that although they may drop hints and try and insinuate it with poorly worded letters basically they cannot take more than is there

And yes its sucks with all the billions wasted and taxes not collected they choose to go after people who don't have an awful lot but that's how they work unfortunately

Thank you @Theunamedcat I can’t defend it - if he didn’t declare his money then I just have to deal with the fallout. But it feels horrible that just when I thought all his affairs were sorted and I could stop thinking about it all, this happens. All he ever wanted to do was leave a little bit of money for his family.

The money will be reclaimed back from his estate but you won't be personally liable if there is a shortfall.

Pension credit is means tested but not usually disability payments.

So this is probably going to mean they’ll want to look back through his back accounts won’t it? To see how long he had that money for and work out how far back the overpayments go?

They may want to look at his statements or get in touch with the bank but there records will show how long he was overpaid if thats what has happened

Thanks @BlanketsBanned - what I mean is, I’m assuming they need to know how long he had that sort of money for. If he only had it for say, a year, then that’s a year of potential overpayments. But he could have had it tucked away for years…. And the balance might have gone up or down over the years.

Do you know what sort of overpayment they are asking about? My mother died last year and because she was in hospital for a few months before her death the DWP is reclaiming the DLA she was paid for that period. It might be something like this which whilst annoying, won’t be too large an amount since DLA is not a lot in the first place.

If he was getting means tested pension credit it may well have been overpaid if they weren't told about the £30k.
Do you know how much pension credit he got and for how long? How old was he?
If he only got a small amount it might not be too much to repay.

He got about £95 PC but I’m not sure for how long. His DLA was £85 a week but is that means tested?

No, DLA not means tested.
I think the balence up and down in the past is probably not going to make a difference as £30k is well above the cut off. Unless he came by the money recently.

So if £95 a month that's £1100 a year, goes up every year so won't always have been that. If he was on it ten years that's £11k so still not all of the money.

As executor it's not your debt, it's the estates. Just your job to pay out any bills before you give the remainder to beneficiaries.

Thank you. So possibly a hefty chunk of the inheritance. You’re right, I just have to hand back whatever’s owed - which is fair enough but just a sad way to complete the tying up of his affairs.

It sounds like he had the benefit of an extra £95 and still had his savings intact.

It certainly wasn't so sad for your Uncle. It's just time to balance the books now.

My understanding (which is a few years out of date now) is that the DWP almost invariably send these letters to the executor once probate is granted if the deceased was receiving means tested benefits. Just provide the information they ask and try not worry

@FloraPostIt exactly the words of a DWP officer I spoke to today! He was very nice and reassuring which has calmed me down a lot!