Inherited money

[Mum8515]

I've been given a large amount of money today (20k), it's been given to me from the sale of my grandads house abroad, It's been divided between a few of us & given the amount of 20k each. My question is we get some housing benefit, a little bit of council tax reduction, WTC & CTC. I want this money to be put aside for my 2 little ones preferably a ISA. What happens in regards to benefits? So confused on what to do. Tia x

I was told a few years ago by the DWP that my child's savings were treated as though they were mine for the purpose of benefits, so if that is still the case this might all be moot.

totally if you read above I have made it clear, the country the will was made does not allow minors to be on there. I don't want to be claiming benefits as we only started so a few months ago when I was made redundant! I'm looking at going back into work so won't need to claim benefits. The benefits is literally a temporary situation for us since I was made redundant!

Mum8515 Apologies - I did in fact read that yesterday, and had forgotten.

If you want to help your children, though, perhaps you could spend some of the money on re-training/gaining extra qualifications to help you get another job - which could in turn lead to a better job, with more pay and prospects? This would presumably benefit them in all kinds of ways.

If you're only temporarily on benefits and going back to work soon then why not do it above board? Declare the money and use the equivalent you would have got from benefits from the money and in a few months when you've got a job put it all away in whatever account you want and you can pay back the money you used in your own time. Or as PP said use it to retrain or something to better their lives.

Spending the money on your rent instead of relying on benefits and taking responsibility for your own costs doesn't mean the money is going to "waste". I agree with the welfare state but you can't have it both ways- yes you want to save the money for your children but looking for loopholes so you receive more benefits than you're entitled to is just gross. Pay your way.

You seem to think because you want to give the money to your children that you are morally exempt- don't you think everyone would love to have £20k to give their kids? Unfortunately if they're relying on state handouts most would pay for a roof over their children's heads etc and whatever money they could then save they would give them.

This can't be true!

But if it is OP, of course I can understand why you'd want to give your DCs £20,000 each instead of spending some of it on rent and other living costs. I'd quite like to give £20,000 to DS too, but unfortunately I have to spend a lot of my income on my mortgage and living costs so it's unlikely I'll save that up any time soon.

Do you think if I go to the benefits office and say I need help with living costs so I can start putting away £100 a month as a nest egg for DS they will say yes? Doubt it.

Sorry, £10,000 each

I’m surprised you wouldn’t want to get off benefits and secure more permanent housing which would benefit your dc in the long run and they would get inherit from the sale of your house. If you only been made redundant and recently on receipt of benefits then the amount payable wouldn’t be that much.

For heaven's sake, OP is getting a very hard time here! I bet if any of your kids inherited money you wouldn't be queuing up to have the Will varied, so you can spend the money to replace subsidies for living costs rather than have it in their names!
Clearly she needs to consult a lawyer Re showing who the money belongs too, given the Will and letter she has confirming her grandfather's intentions. If she can show it's the kids' then so much the better.

I think if it was genuinely the Grandfather's intention that the money be left to the grandchildren there is mileage in the OP exploring this, but he fact is it has been left to her.

We don't know exactly what was said by the grandfather, he might have said that in fact he wanted the money to go directly to the grandchildren, or he might have implied that the grandchildren should benefit from the money by the OP using it wisely so they in turn hopefully do well out of it, which is something totally different to it being left to them.

I think this scenario is also ringing alarm bells for a lot of people because there is £20k lying around in a relatives safe which does seem very unusual.

Well said, househunt.

I had a trust fund (lucky me) of a similar amount to the OP's amount. I put it towards a deposit on a house, on the grounds that my DC would ultimately benefit from me being a homeowner. OP might think of doing something along these lines, if she doesn't want to use it to pay rent.

Thank you messy another that understands my situation. Snapped I would love to put it on a deposit for a mortgage but on my husbands wage of £1000pm & living in London don't think it can happen with the house prices here. I haven't looked into it too much so not 100% sure too

If you were saving for the children, I would open JISAs and put the maximum £4260 for this tax year for both of them. And do the same next year which takes care of £17040. With just under £3K left of the £20K, I would open Halifax's Children's Saver Accounts with them.

The stock and shares JISA are normally online and you transfer the funds in as opposed to going to a branch and paying physical cash in. Won't you need to deposit the cash into an actual bank account sooner or later or are you just intending to open basic savings accounts for the children? I guess that you can open cash JISAs at a physical branch and hand over the cash when opening them. I hope it's in £50 notes!

Mum8515, I don't think it's a case of other posters not understanding your situation. I think it's a case of posters feeling pissed off that you are in effect, if not in intention, trying to defraud the benefits system. If you want a barrel of laughs, I suggest you try being just above the benefits cap. Then you will qualify for absolutely sod all, yet will have to (e.g.) do without food in order to pay for prescriptions which you can't do without. Benefits plus £20,000 in cash? Lucky you.

The OP is the granddaughter. Her DCs are great grandchildren. I would put 2k each in kids accounts. Keep £16k in a savings account and gift them more each tax year. Now nobody can complain

Sorry, yes great-grandchildren is what I meant, not grandchildren.

OP you insist that the benefits situation is temporary and you are only relying on them to make up a small shortfall before you are back in work, why are you so worried about the £20k being depleted so much? Why can't you rightly declare the £20k, maybe use a small amount of it until you are back in work and then repay this when you are working again? Then you can invest the £20k as you see fit for the future benefit of your DCs as you believe your grandfather intended, but also in the knowledge that you are not relying on the state when you actually have the funds to support yourself.

I think you need to put the money into savings and get a job immediately. Then you won’t have a problem and the moral police can put their truncheons away.

Have you never wondered how this money came to you as cash? That’s utterly bizarre as it was a house sale (allegedly). Also your grandad should have given the money to his great grandchildren, not you, if this is what he wanted. As he didn’t write this into the will, it’s your money, not the children’s money.

Therefore, invest it, (with the necessary proof re money laundering and good luck with that) then get a job and move on. I would be querying why this is cash though. Who were the executors of the will? Cash is not acceptable. I would go back and ask the executors and their solicitor for a cheque. You should have had a statement or letter from the solicitor or executor with the money. Or is the whole set up shady and an inheritance tax dodge? You ought to do a bit more digging because cash will give you a problem.

bubbles property was sold abroad & cash was deposited into an account in that country (my uncles as he's a resident there) we then bought the money back cash as if it was transferred from there we would have incurred a lot of charges fir transfer fee. So as there was 3 of us we bought it back cash. I've stated above the country this all took place in does NOT allow minors on a will therefore my kids could not be put on, although my grandfather put it in writting in case there were any problems. He passed away 2years ago but this was all sorted now

If you're planning on returning to work soon I don't see the problem, just declare it and use a small amount to replace the benefits then pay it back when you're working.

Please look to get a solicitor and see if a will variation can be done . I feel you have a lot of proof and support from your family ( everyone trying to carry out your grandfather's wishes). There are islands off the UK where females cannot inherit property ( I like to think a lot of posters would support will variation in that situation). This is clearly for your children.

Hi OP

Look up "Deed of variation".

I hope that you CAN put this money into an account legally for your children's future. I say this as a higher rate tax payer. It will give your children a bit of a leg up (might not be much with the rate of inflation) but that money could prevent your children from needing to claim benefits of their own in future. It's swings and roundabouts and 20k in the grand scheme of the world isn't a massive amount. If it was anything above 50k then I might feel different, but I can't call you a benefit scrounger for wanting to adhere to your grandfathers wishes and save it for your children's future. You're hardly spending it on Mulberry handbags and Makeup.

IMO your intentions are good. Maybe spend 5k on a trip to Florida for the kids to bring you under the 16k threshold.

Or possibly use it for a property deposit? This would bring security for your children, as when you pop your clogs at least that will be a bit of a legacy to leave to your kids. Would be a damn sight more than 20k too. Your mortgage could be smaller than your private rent, meaning you would no longer claim HB.

Good Luck OP

p.s I'm thinking putting money towards a mortgage isn't classed as deprivation of capitol but google it just in case.