Inheritance protected so that benefits can still be claimed

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Can inheritance of around £200,000 be somehow protected so that benefits can still be claimed if provision is made in a will to hold that inheritance in some kind of trust? The claimant will never work for various reasons.

@1month My dh thinks exactly the same thing. He'd rather be going out to work every morning and having a "normal" life and marriage, not stuck in the house all the time and having to ask his wife to help him wipe his bottom.

Yes it can!

In a will, it can be left in trust to protect entitlement to benefits. We do this all the time.

Have We clarified whether it’s the dad or son who inherited the money?

From what I deduce, the dad is the recipient of the money, and has received it or about to receive it. Therefore, he is now £200k richer.

Only earned income affects entitlement to carer's allowance, income from investments etc doesn't affect it.

Thank you @Thewizardbinbag and @Juliet55 for your exceptional posts on this thread.

You are both absolutely right.

You deserve every penny of a £30k inheritance @Juliet55.

So easy to benefit bash when you've never had to go anywhere near the benefit system.

It's a true privilege not to have to care for a disabled person and/or claim benefits.

You can't receive both ESA and UC. Income based ESA is a legacy benefit. It has been replaced by UC for new claims. You can claim new style ESA with UC but the award is deducted £ for £ from UC. As is carer's allowance.

Who's benefit bashing?

The original question is being bogged down by emotion and misreading, in some places. As PP have suggested. This calls for specialist legal advice.

The OP said that the will of the deceased left inheritance to a trust. The dad may have the legal right to use the money as specified but it is not counted as an asset of his as he does not 'own' the money and it is not in an account in his name.

This is true!
I am awarded LWCRA on UC but also get new style ESA but like you say deducted pound for pound.
As I'm on enhanced rate on both elements of pip my husband is entitled to the carers element on UC as he works he cannot claim carers allowance

@HomeBase thank you. Your kind words and appreciation of what it means to be a carer means a lot.

@1month, I'm sure you would, as would my disabled nephew. The thing is though some posters are saying disabled people are left to live in poverty. In the UK this is just not true. There are many single people living on far less money than disabled people. That was the point I made.

So the person who is to receive the inheritance is not the person who's disabled then?
Carers allowance isn’t means tested - a millionaire could receive it as long as they earn less than £135 a week net. Is this the benefit youre talking about? Or is it some other type of benefit?

Your first question is in the affirmative. Except, it's been spun round to suit.

So just like I said earlier someone is about to receive an inheritance and also try and hide the fact so they can continue to claim benefits. Fair to assume they're means tested ones as they wouldn't need to hide it otherwise.

This isn't about whether disabled people or their carers are treated well by society or receive adequate help. That's a whole different debate.

It's about someone defrauding the CURRENT benefit system cos they don't like it.

I think that's it in a nutshell. This is about trying to fudge it. However, the issue has been hijacked.

The very first page was all I needed to read to find bashing. People immediately thought of 'scroungers' rather than the myriad of reasons why people might be on benefits.

That's because the OP was (deliberately) vague and goady.

I missed that part and I fully admit to not reading the updates, but the knee jerk reactions and the rush to judgement are always the same in threads like these.

Yes. It's called fraud. But on the plus side there won't be many living expenses in jail.

Yes, and it's great that his family have managed to do all of that between them but a) doesn't some of the cost for that supported accommodation come out of UC figure you mentioned earlier in which case he won't have that much left - I highly doubt that HB alone is enough and b) others are not so lucky to have a family to divide the tasks up. For those in b) the lone carer is left needing to live off the disabled person's money as well and it would cost far more to have FT paid carers. All the morning showering, driving and back and forth the family's doing for free would be very expensive. Not sure whether you're actually a carer based on your username but if you are then this shouldn't be new to you.

And That aside the brother you're comparing to earns NMW - he could earn more. The disabled brother cannot.

To be honest the burden often isn't on the disabled person as much as their family. None of them have much freedom so long as they have this caring responsibility, to just do whatever they like. More than most, but still not the same as someone without.

I agree that wages are pitiful and housing costs high but that problem shouldn't be linked to the benefits of the truly disabled.

Thank you to the posters who have actually read my posts and offered advice. It's become clearer from posting here that the money appears to be in trust for the disabled adult child rather than our family friend himself. That would explain the lack of provision in the will for the disabled grandchild when all other grandchildren are beneficiaries. It looks like it might be our friend that is the one missing out on his inheritance and that it's all in trust for the child. Knowing what I do of his parents this seems to be their final fuck you to him. I've suggested he makes an appointment to see the solicitor without his golden child older brother (who is inheriting directly) there and get to the bottom of things

This

@PikachuChickenRice yes my disabled nephew is very lucky to have the parents he has who do so much for him. His Dad works full time and my sister gave up her full time job when he had his accident to care for him. She gets Carers Allowance now. My sister only has a week holiday every other year alone with her DH now and his brother takes a week off work on holiday to care for his brother. His sister lives too far away to do much and has 2 young DC but she will go in an emergency to look after her brother for a day at a time. Also my sister, BiL, their 2 DS's go on a holiday with me, DH and our Foster Son to our holiday home each year, they did this before my nephew's accident too. It gives my sister a break from the lifting him in and out of his wheelchair because her DH and my dh do it on our holidays. I'm a Foster Carer to a child with complex learning disabilities but he is at least mobile so no lifting for me. My nephew is still having physio and trying to learn how to walk again. He does pay something towards his supported accommodation but not much my sister said. I accept it must be harder for disabled people with no family to support them.

the will can be re written in arrears if the beneficiaries agree.

a couple of hundred k in the lifetime of someone who is a vulnerable person and otherwise on benefits is fuck all.

vulnerable persons trusts exist and are legal for this very purpose. Long term they’re going to need the benefits.

get advice, and get expensive advice.

this is one of those occasions where there’s nothing more expensive than cheap advice.

good luck!