Inheritance for child when the parent is on benefits

[moneyisnotfunny]

Nc and some details changed for this. My young daughter is going to inherit around £30K from her late father once the estate is sorted out through probate. I am a single parent carer on benefits and am concerned about how to handle this situation. The money will be very much my daughter's and I have been told that it is to cover her maintenance up to when she reaches adulthood. Because it is maintenance, there needs to be a way of releasing the maintenance amount per month to me for her every day living expenses. If the full amount went into my account then my benefits would stop and the money would run out long before Dd hits 18 and we would because off as a family. I hope that makes sense.
How can I keep her money safe and in her name but released monthly to help for her day to day things? Is this possible? It's around £300 a month that she got and this is the rate it would continue at afaik. I will be asking for it to be paid into an account in her name. Multiple Junior ISAs? Premium Bonds? She is 8 and any account will have to be overseen by me as her only parent/guardian.
TIA.

Well the pension administrator should have checked on the family situation before distribution. So the best recourse is to complain to them, they should do due diligence before paying out. Especially if nominations form is old.

My understanding is that rather like writing a life insurance policy 'In Trust' you can nominate a beneficiary for your 'Death in Service' benefit so it is paid quickly and doesnt form part of your estate.

So if I die the person I nominate gets the money quickly and doesnt have to wait for my estate to be sorted out

I think there has been some confusion between a life insurance pay out and the pension. It looks like the money paid out was a life insurance policy not the pension. Would an insurance policy not be part of the estate or does it just go to a nominee?

I think that it goes to the nominee at the discretion of the trustees.

I am not sure how often if at all any discretion is exercised

If it was life insurance and not death in service benefits then that's a different matter. It would entirely depend on what the life insurance itself was for and how it was set up. If it was clearly made out for the benefit of the DC that got it then that's just that. Not much you can do. If it was for surviving children or something to that effect then that would be a different matter. You'd need to contact the life insurance company and ask them

Yes this is true but if the nomination is, say, 15 years old then the trustees normally make sure they are sure of the updated situation before distribution of benefits

It was set up before my child was born for the benefit of the middle child but to go to the adult relative to look after for the child if that makes sense. Later on the relative who was the nominee has said he was nominated to receive to look after all the dc. Now that relative has says it's only for the middle Dd.

For every aspect that becomes clear, another clouds everything.

The family fallout will be irreparable from this.

Well it's a useful reminder people to make sure that your wishes are clear and future proof..
I suspect there's nothing you can do on that payout because it was a life insurance and it's payable to the beneficiary of the insurance. Doesn't form part of the deceased estate and is not a thing like DiS which is administrated by trustees.
For example, I have a life insurance on my Ex life because should he die then it's going to cost me extra money to cover the kids costs. If he dies it just goes straight to me.

Yes she is. Sadly as he has passed he cannot pay any more maintenance. As he has died intestate, his three children will inherit equally among them. As ops did is only 8, hers will be kept in trust till she is 18

There's no estate from the looks of things so there's nothing to divide between the 3 dc. The only thing would be the dependents pension paid monthly.

I chased up the pension last week and all I know is that it's "being processed" and the system was updated the day before I called. I at least have an email address for them now to save me spending a long time on hold on the telephone.They have said that the bereavement team will take the information I've provided into account when making a decision and that they'll be in touch. There's no timeline for that and I've been told to call back in 12 weeks if I haven't heard anything. That's Christmas! The person I spoke to appeared to get both claims mixed up. I know that the l death benefit will be more complicated but I would have thought the dependents pension would be quite straight forward seeing as Dd is the only one eligible for it.
The house issue is ongoing and things are still not clear there.

Just a suggestion OP: it may be sensible to send an email along tbe lines of: 'Further to our phone call on * date, I understand that this claim is being processed and that I am to call back in 12 weeks if I haven' t heard anything. I am suprised that the pensions claim is not more straightforward as Dd is the only potential recipient. Please would you clarify this for me as I was rather concerned that the person I spoke appeared to confuse the death benefit with the pension issue. Kind regards ** (Sorry, if you've already done this!) Copy in whoever seems to be appropriate.

My experience of an incompetent 'probate expert' is that a written trail of phone calls is vital. In my case the executors dispensed with this person's services and sorted it out themsrlves for the good of all beneficiaries much more speedily and on a sounder legal basis!

Not sure why some of that is in bold, perhaps the asterisks caused that?

Thank you. I've been keeping a record in a notebook so I'll put it all together in another email and do as you suggested. They've had the forms two weeks now. They said they'd been uploaded onto the system on the 16th September and I'd hoped I would have heard something by now.

Done. The waiting is so frustrating. I'd have thought they'd be able to tell me something by now rather than just radio silence. I know I'm terribly impatient.

@moneyisnotfunny I've read all the posts here and the first thing I would say is that it depends on which Civil Service Pension scheme DD's Father was in as to what the exact rules are. The civil Service changed it's pension schemes several times over the last 22 years. There was also an option to remain in the original pension scheme at the time they closed it to new people ( around 2002 I think) . Your DD's Father may even have been a member of more than one civil service pension scheme while he was working there.

It also depends if he was still working in the Civil Service when he passed, if he was retired and in receipt of his pension or whether he had actually retired when he died. Also, if he was already in receipt of his civil service pension that can affect things too, depending how long he had been drawing it.

I do know how to work these things out when all required information is known but it's down to exact length of service ( including days as well as the years), the accrual rate of the scheme - which could be in 60th's or 80th's for example - or possibly something different altogether. (I am being paid under the original scheme which closed in 2002 so know more about that scheme and the next one). Also the exact Salary details

I think you are just going to have to be patient, I'm sorry.

@moneyisnotfunny - just to add to my post above, you can't be sure what % of the pension will be paid to your DD since you can't be sure which pension scheme(s) he was in. For an example, in the original scheme any dependant child received 1/3 of the pension - BUT depending on how many children are dependants normally the TOTAL amount for children's pensions would not exceed more than half the pension between them - so 3 children would get considerable less than 1/3 each. They recalculate the amount due to come to 1/2 the pension. No idea how later children's pensions are calculated, but it isn't that 50% of the pension will be divided among the number of children ( in this case just 1) but in the oldest scheme, it would just be 1/3. Other schemes may vary

No idea about the later pensions! I do know that the current CS pension scheme is an 'average' salary one and not a 'Final salary' one, which will impact on the pension calculation too.

They have been in touch to say they have reviewed all the information and it's been referred to the scheme compliance unit. I've no idea what that means or why that's happening.

I think it ,means their 'experts' will scrutinise all the information you have provided to them and make a decision as to whether or not you are still entitled to claim benefits

@Viviennemary what do you mean? My benefits have nothing to do with this now. The thread has m

The thread has moved on since my initial post.

I think PP meant the pension benefits not any state benefits. So the compliance team will check that everything is in order with what you've submitted and the eligibility of the pension

I agree with pp they will scrutinise your claim to the pension. I know to you it’s straightforward but they will have a procedure to follow to make sure your DD gets the right pension.

I don’t want to raise your hopes, but they may also look at the Death in Service payment to make sure any decisions on that were done on the basis of full knowledge of the potential beneficiaries.

Thank you. It sounded like the kind of place for when you're in trouble! It was the way the email was worded like I'd done something wrong.

As far as the civil service changing its pension schemes a few times then yes, I know they have done that but I've no idea if my ex changed his scheme. I know which scheme they told me he was in now and how that applies to the claim. Other than that I'm not concerned about those details. My only concern is: is Dd entitled to any pension?

He was still working for them when he died. He was not claiming his pension yet. There is only one eligible child: my Dd. The other two are adults and don't meet the criteria for a dependent's pension.

I'll just be glad to know if Dd is entitled to anything or not.

I really appreciate the help and company as I navigate this, thank you.

As far as the civil service changing its pension schemes a few times then yes, I know they have done that but I've no idea if my ex changed his scheme. I know which scheme they told me he was in now and how that applies to the claim. Other than that I'm not concerned about those details. My only concern is: is Dd entitled to any pension?

@moneyisnotfunny You did ask if anyone knew how you could calculate what she might get. I was replying to say that he may have been in more than one over 20 years and if that is the case, calculations will be based on each pension separately and then added together. The rules for the whole 20 years he worked for them, do not apply entirely based on only the last pension scheme he was in! It's very complicated