Urgent help with question about benefits

[atticusclaw2]

I'm hoping someone knows about benefits.

My friend has been a single parent for about 8 years. She has two children 14 and 8. She was in a reasonably secure financial position with a small house which had equity in it, a job and a mortgage guaranteed by her DP. She gets no child maintenance for her DCs since her ex does not work and has three other children.

About 18 months ago she met a millionaire, was swept along with promises of happily ever after, gave up her job (not on great terms unfortunately) sold her house and bought a very flash new house. Her DCs have moved schools etc.

Unfortunately the new house was purchased in his name only using his money whilst hers went into the bank.

He has now turned around and said he has found a younger and better girlfriend and she and the children need to leave.

She has £100k "equity" from the sale of her house but no job, no ability to get a mortgage and no possibility of her DP acting as guarantors again since they have now retired and have no spare cash. £100k won't buy anything where she lives, certainly not 3 beds and so she is stuck unable to put her equity back into a property. She'd need about £250k to buy a 3 bed property.

Is she going to have to basically use up all of her equity before she is entitled to any form of assistance? I know things could be worse and she could have nothing at all but she is beside herself knowing that she is now in a far worse financial position than she has ever been in before and that the children are going to be put through so much upheaval. I want to try to offer some practical support and advice.

Yes, she will. She can rent as she's got plenty of cash. Or she could move areas so that she can buy a house, there are plenty of places in the country where she can buy a house for 100k.

She is working? So she doesn't have to eat into her cash too much by renting?

No she gave up her job when she moved in with him.

So no job, no house, no entitlement to benefits.

She doesn't need benefits with a 100k, they're a safety net only. She can get another job, she had a good one before

The 100k will pay her rental deposit in an area she wants to live in, close to the schools they're in. Then she can focus on getting back to work.

but 100k in the bank? boohoo

Oh FFS !!

If she is now looking for a job she can claim contributions based Jobseeker's Allowance.

She can move to an area where £100k buys a house. Buy a 2 bed place and sleep in the living room. Rent and get a job.

That's the advice you can give her because no, she is not entitled to benefits with £100k.

Do people with that kind of money really expect the taxpayer to support them when they deliberately fuck up their lives?

The kids' upheaval is her fault, she's already given them plenty by bringing in her Johnny-come-lately into their lives and foisting him on them, moving their schools, etc.

You’ll get contribution-based JSA if you’ve paid enough Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) in the 2 tax years before the benefit year you’re claiming in. A benefit year runs from the first Sunday in January to the Saturday before the first Sunday in January of the next year.

From www.gov.uk/jobseekers-allowance/what-youll-get

So she should claim before the end of this year

Can she rent somewhere, get a job and the use the rest of the 100k as a deposit on a mortgage when she has got a job? Even if she has to rent for 6 months she will still have a sizeable deposit for a new mortgage.

Yeah, the contribution-based JSA for 6 months. After that, though, she doesn't qualify for income-based JSA or housing benefit. But £73/week. Better than nothing.

She won't get anything except contributions-based JSA, for 6 months, if she paid the right contributions in the right period.

It's worth looking at the Deprivation of Capital rules, too. Essentially, they mean that if she spends her money stupidly, the DWP will process benefits applications as if she still had the money, until enough years has passed that she'd have used it all legitimately. For 100k, that would be a long time. The rules have got a lot stricter this year, so get up to date advice.

Realistically, she'll need to rent somewhere, probably putting down 6 months rent in advance as she doesn't have a job, then get a job, and apply for a mortgage in a year or so when she's got a solid job history. She'll still have a good deposit then, because only the rental money will have come out of the 100k, and she could probably save from her income to top that up if she used to be well-paid.

Oh for goodness sake. I've come on asking for advice for her not to have people flaming her.

She is devastated and can hardly be blamed for the situation. It's completely unfair to say she's deliberately fucked up her life. She was in a secure position previously but clearly now she will be in a much more difficult position and it will not be easy to get herself back to where she was.

She was previously in a job which paid £15k so hardly rolling in it and unlikely to get much of a mortgage as a single parent.

I came on here for advice not knowing what her position would be. I've now had a look on rightmove and actually she might be able to get a shared ownership property where she would pay rent on the part she doesn't own.

If not then I'll buy her a bloody house. Thanks for the assistance though

Thank you to those who have actually said something constructive and helpful

'She is devastated and can hardly be blamed for the situation. It's completely unfair to say she's deliberately fucked up her life.'

It is? She's an adult in charge of 2 children who gave up her job and house for some guy she barely knew. She's hardly a pawn in a game and now seeks to see if the taxpayer, many of whom can only dream of having £100k in cash, can pay to safeguard her massive asset.

'If not then I'll buy her a bloody house.'

Then why not do that rather than the first line of thinking being to turn to the taxpayer when it's not necessary at all.

Make sure she gets advice on tax and that money, because there is every chance she might also be looking at a big tax bill.

And tell her to stop reading from the Book of Moron when it comes to men.

Well you're a truly lovely individual expat.

And I'm not responsible for her so the fact that I could help her buy a house and probably will if there is no other option is neither here nor there as far as she is concerned at the moment. She wouldn't dream of asking me. She also hasn't raised the issue of benefits I'm the one asking the question.

Why on earth would she be looking at a tax bill on her equity?

What sort of idiot with dependants uproots their whole life for someone they barely know? Then expects the taxpayer up bail them out?
Go on, OP, you 'buy her a house'.

OK everyone forget I asked.

She has known him for 27 years so not exactly uprooting her family for someone she didn't know and they were engaged and due to get married in May and so she thought it was serious. I don't want to out her by giving too many specifics but her house has literally only just been sold. Had this happened three weeks ago then she would have been "fine".

Anyway, clearly all I'm going to get is bitchiness so I'll spend the evening looking at options and guidance elsewhere.

If she can get a job for 16 hours she can get tax credits regardless of her savings. She can start to claim means tested benefits once her savings are down to £16k, she doesn't have to use all her equity.

and while you're at it buy me one too

she met him 18 months ago in your OP. Not 27 years. bit hard to mix up those 2 timeframes.
She made a big mistake either way, and thew away her security for nothing.

Yes which is it OP? 18 months or 27 years? I call bs

She will get tax credits regardless of savings ( althought she would have to declare the interest as income I believe).