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Legal matters

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Original poster

DWP chasing debt of deceased mother .

136 replies

Tenaciousbeyondallthings · 25/07/2024 19:04

Can I please make it clear from the outset that I am after legal opinion. NOT moral or lay opinions from non legally qualified people.

My dad died in 2022. He had been ill with schizophrenia most of my life. I have 2 siblings.

He was in an assisted accommodation. He was in receipt of the highest rate of DLA for both mobility and care . To be absolutely clear , I had no influence or control over his money . I was not a POA or an Appointee to DWP. His money , benefits , rent were handled by a 'corporate appointee' (Social Services for the area)

We visited monthly but that was the extent of our involvement.

When he died he had left a very simple WILL.. leaving his 'Estate' to be divided equally between myself and my siblings. I was named as executor as I have a respected job (think nurse/police/ambulance) ..

It took a little while to gather his accounts .

After about 9 months I was in a position to make bequests. A total of £7k each.

1 year and 3 months later - DWP tell me that the estate owes them. £13k. This is because her DLA had taken his savings over £16k and he was no longer entitled.

Therefore owes £13k in UC..

The money was distributed 5 months earlier and spent .

They are pursuing me as executor for the 13k ..

My argument against this is that I had no control or ability to check his income from benefits was correct as social services were in charge of this.

My questions are :

How long should an executor wait before distributing money to beneficiaries when we had no idea there was a debt. ? I understood that as Executor I needed to pay beneficiaries in a 'timely manner'

If dad was not entitled to the money then surely the appointee is the one responsible. ? How could I know there was a debt without having previous knowledge ?

I have no debt. I do not want debt but feel this is unfair. I have written all the above to DWP but still receive the same threats of a debt collector..

Am I liable ? If I am then we (siblings and I have to pay it. But they are far from 'comfortable' .. one spent it on a car to get to work and the other on hip replacement surgery.. (so she could keep working)

What would be your legal advice ?

OP posts:
Sandwichgen · 27/07/2024 08:29

have you seen all correspondence between Newham and the DWP?

Sandwichgen · 27/07/2024 11:16

Just wondered if they had ever queried overpayment with Newham?

Happyher · 27/07/2024 11:31

Oblomov24 · 27/07/2024 07:16

Hang on a sec, an overpayment from 2008 to 2022, 14 years, until his death. And they have only just noticed, after a recent review presumably, that an overpayment has occurred. For the last 14 years. For practically the whole of his claim.

Oh purlease.

"I don't actually think the DWP is wrong in pursuing this money. "

Well, I do!
When was the account reviewed by one of their senior finance staff? Not annually. It would appear never! Until a recent review and they've suddenly discovered an overpayment for practically the whole of his case.

Doesn't that classify as negligent?

Sometimes savings accounts don’t come to light till after a person dies. Benefit rules can be complicated for some people especially if they are ill

ButtSurgery · 27/07/2024 12:54

Happyher · 27/07/2024 11:31

Sometimes savings accounts don’t come to light till after a person dies. Benefit rules can be complicated for some people especially if they are ill

Show quote history

Their accounts and finances were being managed by a council appointed person. No way it should have waited to be sorted!

BirthdayBalloonsEverywhere · 27/07/2024 20:18

OP, what year did he start getting his state pension? Assuming he wasn't living with a partner still of working age at the time of his death, my understanding is that you can't claim UC once you're pensionable age, it's Pension Credit instead, which has different rules around savings (not the 16k cut off that UC has).

www.gov.uk/pension-credit/eligibility

If that's the case and he was getting Pension Credit for some of those years rather than UC, is it possible that might affect how much they're actually entitled to try to reclaim from you?

MimosaCardamom · 27/07/2024 20:24

PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister · 25/07/2024 19:07

What would be your legal advice ?

my legal advice would be go and see a solicitor

Can I please make it clear from the outset that I am after legal opinion. NOT moral or lay opinions from non legally qualified people.
Yup, you need to pay for advice.

I could say you don't need to pay them, as they should have told you within 6 months of the death, or I could say you should pay up now, before they start to charge you interest.

I could say I'm a fully qualified lawyer, with a speciality in case against DWP, or a shelf stacker in Aldi.

You have no idea what is true, or fake

Happyher · 28/07/2024 09:02

ButtSurgery · 27/07/2024 12:54

Their accounts and finances were being managed by a council appointed person. No way it should have waited to be sorted!

Show quote history

You’re assuming the appointee was aware of the savings

Soontobe60 · 28/07/2024 14:53

MsJacksonIfYoureNasty · 26/07/2024 15:09

Let's say someone was receiving another benefit during their lifetime that is not means-tested. There was a small overpayment of that benefit to the date of death.

The DWP sends a letter out at that point asking for the overpaid Attendance Allowance/DLA/Retirement Pension (or whatever) to be repaid.

In that same letter it states the following...

What happens next

If any other benefits have been incorrectly paid to [Name of deceased] we will contact you separately about them.

If you are dealing with the estate we may need to contact you again if [Name of deceased] was receiving an income-related benefit at the date of death. This is because in certain cases we are required by law to check the details of the benefit claim. If benefit was incorrectly paid this could lead to a claim against the estate, but we will contact you if this happens.

So if the OP had to repay small overpayments of benefits at the start then she would have received letters about this and these letters do cover the possibility of a claim against the estate. Quite often people do not read these letters properly but the information is there.

This us exactly the letter I received regarding my mums estate on the same day they paid a weeks arrears into the bank for her.

Soontobe60 · 28/07/2024 15:30

Tenaciousbeyondallthings · 26/07/2024 21:51

I did exactly this AND received a payment of 'owed pension' . In what world would anyone then expect that the same person owed THEM ?

Show quote history

But the pension has nothing to do with savings. People with millions in the bank still get state pension,

ButtSurgery · 28/07/2024 17:11

Soontobe60 · 28/07/2024 15:30

But the pension has nothing to do with savings. People with millions in the bank still get state pension,

Edited
Show quote history

If pension payments were made after the person had died, they will try to claim them back.

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