I wonder if anyone can offer accurate info on this situation. There’s a lot of angst involved and certain family members are behaving very badly, but I just wanted to get the basics right in my head.
My partner’s parent died. The estate was meant to be divided between the three children. However, one sibling has a serious illness that affects ability to live independently/manage money etc. Therefore, in what now seems like an appalling error of judgment, the parent left two thirds to the other sibling (not the ill one, not my partner) with the understanding that they would manage it all and help the ill sibling spend wisely etc.
The sibling who is supposed to be helping the ill sibling has made it very, very difficult for the latter. They are basically saying they can only transfer a very small amount to their ill sibling per year (approx 5% of the total due to that sibling). They are refusing to budge, despite the ill party needing very specific things that are currently unaffordable.
The behaviour of this person is clearly appalling. But they are trying to justify it by implying that their benefits will be affected if they suddenly start giving away large amounts of money.
Surely this can’t be true?? I know they receive benefits for their disabled child, and probably also carer’s allowance (this is where I am a bit unclear). But if an inheritance were to affect these benefits at all, wouldn’t it be the massive chunk of money that lands in the account in the first place that causes a problem rather than the subsequent usage of that money to purchase things for a sick sibling??
What’s more, I didn’t think inheritance actually affected disability allowance in any case? Can anyone shed light here?
Just to clarify, none of the money is due to me or my partner, so we have no vested interest besides trying to make sure the ill sibling gets their due.