Brother wants his inheritance paid into his kids accounts

[renouncefifty]

My Father passed at the end of 2020 and I was named executor in the will. I was granted probate recently and have began the process of selling his property. My bother and I are joint beneficiaries in the will.

My brother is on benefits and has been for many years, he and his partner have some disabilities. My Brother has asked me to pay his share into his sons bank accounts. - I think this is his attempt to not lose his benefits.

I don't have to make any payments as yet as the flat my father owned has just gone on the market, but to be honest I'm worried that my brother is dragging me into something dodgy. I don't claim benefits and never have, the last thing I want is to commit fraud not to mention the fact if he isn't entitled due to an inheritance he really shouldn't be on benefits.

Where do I stand legally when it comes to making the payment to him once everything is wrapped up ? If I was to send the money to his kids accounts isn't that going against the will ?

Thank you in advance for any replies x

C8H ... but as things stand, OP must put the money into brothers name. End of

You are arguing that posters here asking "is there a bus stop here" should get the answer "no" rather than be told "there is one around the corner".

Which answer would you find more helpful

The key thing to me would be what the deceased hoped for out of the money. He presumably was aware of his adult son's situation and may have expressed hope that the children would benefit. In that situation a Deed of Variation putting some money in trust to cover eg university fees could well be a reasonable thing to do. So brother needs to take advice if this is what he wants (beneficiaries are part of this discussion, its not just at the whim of the executor).

He can have it paid wherever he likes, but it will still be his money and will still be deprivation of assets if he tries to hide it and continue to claim benefits.

My daughter has just received the financial settlement from her divorce while on UC. She told them about it and they have given her a grace period of 6 months to buy a house if at all possible. It's always better to be honest about these things.

@C8H10N4O2

C8H ... but as things stand, OP must put the money into brothers name. End of

You are arguing that posters here asking "is there a bus stop here" should get the answer "no" rather than be told "there is one around the corner".

Which answer would you find more helpful

The key thing to me would be what the deceased hoped for out of the money. He presumably was aware of his adult son's situation and may have expressed hope that the children would benefit. In that situation a Deed of Variation putting some money in trust to cover eg university fees could well be a reasonable thing to do. So brother needs to take advice if this is what he wants (beneficiaries are part of this discussion, its not just at the whim of the executor).

If the deceased wanted the money to benefit the granchildren, he could have chosen to put the money in trust for their uni education or similar.

@Cheshirewife

The amount of silliness posted on here by people who haven’t got a clue what they’re talking about is embarrassing.

Of course a beneficiary can stipulate where the money is to be paid. The point is the right to the money is theirs. So long as they have legal capability, they can assign it to anyone they wish. Doing so is a very common tax management strategy, particularly for high net worth individuals!

Sorry, my last post was in reply to this.

If the deceased wanted the money to benefit the granchildren, he could have chosen to put the money in trust for their uni education or similar.

But sometimes people don't do this or don't get good advice or leave it to their children to sort out knowing the DC understand them and their wishes.

Which is one reason why Deeds of Variation exist.

Head|Wall

@VanCleefArpels

you essentially have to waste it

No you don’t. You have to use it to pay your everyday expenses. Just like anyone else not on benefits does. Where does it say that money received by way of an inheritance most only he sue the on something “improving”? Would you say the same about a lottery win?

I’m staggered by the number of people who appear to believe that regardless of how much money in the bank someone has they can still carry on claiming benefits.

Indeed. Imagine someone saying "I won significantly more than £26k on the lottery. AIBU to put it in my kids name so I can still claim benefits?"

People so think inheritance should only be for something"nice".

you don't see people being criticised for stashing money in ways to avoid inheritance tax, why is stashing it to avoid loss of benefits any different?

I see it differently as inheritance tax is taken from money someone saved that they could have chosen to spend, but chose to give to someone else instead.

Benefits come from the public purse to help people unable to help themselves. If they then receive money from another source, they are no longer unable to provide for themselves so others no longer need to step in.

C8H - no head and wall ... you’re just not seeing the exact clear picture or question.

My Brother has asked me to pay his share into his sons bank accounts. - I think this is his attempt to not lose his benefits - legally as it stands OP can’t do this. Simple.

Where do I stand legally when it comes to making the payment to him once everything is wrapped up ? If I was to send the money to his kids accounts isn't that going against the will ? - yes, and illegal. Simple.

It sounds like the brother doesn’t want to lose benefits, not that he wants his sons to inherit.

The brother should look into his options in a legal sense, NOT the OP. All the OP needs to do is carry out the will as it instructs. If a Solicitor was dealing with the will, do you really think the brother would approach them and ask the same question? I’d guess not. The Solicitor would advise no I can’t pay the money into your sons account ... it is money left to you, not your sons. The he would advise what the brothers options are. Simple.

Is he asking for it to be given to the children and out in their accounts until they can access it - if so in my opinion that’s ok, or is he asking to put it in their names but planning to actually use it himself - then that’s not ok.

I shall not be doing anything other than what is expressed in the will. I have advised my brother of some of the issues raised. When the time comes I shall write him a cheque for his share and then it's up to him

Very wise of you, OP
Leaving aside the "Deed of Variation" issues, if your DB was so bothered about this the time to address it would have been before your DF passed away, and there's certainly no reason for you to get involved in his attempted cheating now

We had a similar issue when my FIL passed, 5 way split on inheritance, 2 beneficiaries were on benefits and asked me as executor to pay their inheritance in a way that it would not impact their benefits. One wanted a monthly payment over several years, one wanted it paid into their kids account. I refused on both counts as executor of the will i would have been culpable of assisting benefit fraud by knowingly supporting the suggested approach.

I took legal advise and gave them the option to either accept the payment into their account, legally and formally refuse the inheritance or to complete a deed of variation diverting the inheritance to their children and thus into trust fund given said children were all well under 18 years old. Funnily enough they didn't want to do either of the last 2 options and ended up having the money transfered to them direct. Not sure what they did in terms of benefits then but not my problem.

This was in relation to individual payments of c£30k so well over the threshold for benefits and in my opinion enough for them to get off benefits and make something of their lives. Neither are disabled or unable to work, simply unwilling

Presumably we are talking a substantial amount that would set the kids up?
Be interesting to do the sums if it was enough for the kids to do Uni and buy a flat vs tax payer input on helping support the kids renting for life and potential no Uni earnings.

I know it’s never cut and dried and there’s a lot of other factors at play to the path our life takes us, divorce, health etc etc. But it would be an interesting study.

@SD1978

I don't understand the idea that someone on benefits who inherits it's the government taking 'their' money. To go on to benefits you need to spend your savings to be allowed on to them. I don't see why if you have an amount you could and should support yourself with whilst on them. You shouldn't be expected to use that money, until you requalify.

Yet the govt allow it in a roundabout way as people can receive inheritance without affecting benefits if a discretionary trust is set up whilst the person whose estate it is is still alive. Parents with children with disabilities often set this up for their child who will probably be an adult by the time they may benefit from any inheritance from their parents. If someone is unable to work due to sickness and/or disability I think this is fair.

Years ago I remember having to go without medicine and dental treatment because I couldn't afford the prescription charge or dental fee - was working full time too, paying rent, council tax and the other life essential bills some on here seem put out of the thought of paying even with in excess of £16k in the bank. Jeez, approaching some days I didnt have 16p in my purse.

posted too soon -
approaching some pay days I didn't have 16p in my purse let alone in excess of £16k in the bank yet, like many others not earning a fortune despite working full time, I still paid tax helping support the benefit system.
No-one can defend defrauding the benefit system.

@woodlandcalm, so you would not agree with the scenario I posted above?

@renouncefifty

The children are already beneficiaries for much smaller sums.

For all those talking about deeds of trust because the deceased may have intended to give to the grandkids but not thought to put it in his will...

All morals and principles aside, you have a legal obligation to pay the monies direct to the son.

One can argue the pro's and cons of the UK benefits system, however, if you do not wish to break the law, then do as you have decided.

[quote weekend2021]@andweallsingalong

Buying a property is quite possibly an option if he is currently living in rented property. He would still have to declare the inheritance immediately upon receipt and state what he intends to use it for. Obviously everyone’s situation is slightly different and I can only give very generic advice![/quote]
If it's enough, that's exactly what I would suggest he does. If it's not enough, he could still use it to buy a proportion of a shared ownership property and, providing his capital was below £16k*, would be entitled to UC for the rent on the proportion he didn't own.

Rent on shared ownership properties isn't subject to the size restrictions on wholly rented properties that apply under housing benefit, I'd have to check if the same applies under UC. If it's treated the same, he could get a bigger place.

*when capital is between £6k -£16k, a deduction is made from means tested benefits, according to the amount of capital.

If ever there was a time to RTFT... Op's made her decision:
I shall not be doing anything other than what is expressed in the will. I have advised my brother of some of the issues raised. When the time comes I shall write him a cheque for his share and then it's up to him