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.

"Following that the estate is divided between his 3 children. He was not married at the time of death and has 2 adult dc and my minor Dd."

I just saw your update.

Since there is no will, the person sorting everything out and applying for probate is called the administrator rather than the executor - but it's the same thing.

The administrator can only start dealing with the estate after they have got probate.

As he died intestate then, in this situation, everything is left equally to all the children.

Despite what a PP said, you can in fact do a Deed of Variation in the case of intestacy.

Basically, each of the adult DC need to sign a Deed of Variation saying that they give their share to your DD. This needs to be done within two years of the death.

The administrator will be the trustee and they will be responsible for looking after the money.

However, the administrator can appoint other trustees as well. From what you have said they would want you to also be a trustee.

As I mentioned in an earlier reply, the money would then be held on trust for your DD. The trustees can apply money from the trust for the benefit and maintenance of your DD as they see fit.

The capital is not your's but is held on trust for your DD until she is 18. Any money from the trust is not your income but is money coming from the trust for the benefit of your daughter.

It's difficult because I don't really know the ex-wife and adult dc very well or the full situation. I do know the ex-wife said she only wants half of what she put in to the house. They've been divorced about 20 years. I'm scared to sour the relationship Dd is starting to build with her siblings by rocking the boat and I can't afford a solicitor. I'm not bothered about money for me in terms of maintenance, but if Dd is entitled to a third then she should have that. Even better if it's held in trust for uni or a house deposit or whatever.

It's not up to them and your daughter should get what's she's entitled to. The more you post the more it sounds like they're trying to fuck your daughter over to keep more money for themselves.

That money would make a very big difference to her quality of life when she's older, esp if you're on a low enough income to require benefits, you're not gonna have tens of thousands in savings to help her start her adult life. Please make sure you fight for it for her. We are constantly being told how hard it for young people to save and get on the property ladder. Everything is expensive and this money could help her with driving lessons, a car, uni fees, all sorts of stuff that you may be unable to save for her.

OP I really think you need to speak to an actual lawyer specialising in wills/trusts/intestate rules. Personally I wouldn't bother with the CAB, I volunteered there through uni and it's mostly either retirees or teens using resources not much different to what you could access via Google. Fine for basic stuff but not anything complex.

Fundamentally though, as he died intestate and was unmarried his estate is equally split three ways between his DC. His family don't come into it but don't seem to understand this - hence the need for some official clout from an actual lawyer. I have no idea about the maintenance payments/trust/benefits side... perhaps the lawyer could also advise if you could be set up as trustee with the right to determine when payments should be made in DD's best interests? Although I can see that that could be seen as wide open to corruption...

A deed of variation can only be used to make changes to a beneficiary's own entitlement.

In this case it would be the two adult DC who are giving up their share. The DD won't have to make a deed of variation.

I think i made the point first, but I guess not very well. Ultimately I assume there was something written into the financial order between ex and ex-wife that resulted in the house being owned jointly. Who knows who was living there/paying mortgage etc? Whether there was any arrangements regarding percentage of ownership. Ultimately if the ex's family want to financially contribute to the daughter's upringing then that's a positive. But ultimately OP, I don't think this will negatively affect any benefits you might be receiving. You may well find yourself £300 per month down... I hope you can resolve this

Different scenario and a long time ago, but as a bereaved child, I had 4 pots of funding; 1) funds held in trust by a solicitor & my Grandparents, 2) funds held in trust by a bank on behalf of my Grandparents who both died after trust 1 was set up, 3) money awarded by a court for my education and maintenance and 4) a monthly pension paid out on behalf of my late father until I was 18.

My adoptive parents were able to put the pension money into an account on my behalf and used it to pay for school trips, equipment etc.

Because my DPs had died intestate and all three original trustees had died before I was 18 I had to go through court and take out letters of administration myself to access the money.

So a couple of things. Can you do a similar thing so that DD has an account for the education and maintenance that you are signatory to? Then you can use it for school, and educational opportunities.

My second piece of advice given my own history is to choose the trustees carefully, and make sure that if any of them pass away before your DD reaches adulthood that new trustees are appointed ASAP.

Well, yes, they can, if they want to. The other two children may not want to though. All the talk of maintenance appears to be coming from other people, potentially.

Your daughter might well be able to get a solicitor under legal aid. Increasingly it doesn't sound as if "they" are being generous but actually trying to do your daughter out of some of what she is owed.
Do get some legal advice.
Second if you are no longer getting maintenance then will your benefits increase?

@Another2Cats gives good advice here.

It's basically pretty simple. If he's died intestate then the assets are divided between the 3 children as he's divorced.
It's not clear whether there's any assets here after debts?
It's kind that they are saying they'll give her some money but they have to follow the rules. So ex wife doesn't get to take her money out of the house as an example.
If they pay off debts and split the money and decide its too little, they could decide that they want to gift to DD but that's post the initial probate.

Once DD gets the money, it shouldn't affect your UC as it's solely DDs. You can put it into an account and manage it on her behalf as she's a minor, as a trustee. You can buy things for her with it, it can be used during the period between now and 18 but it can only be used for her benefit. So you can take money out to buy her something but you should make a note of what you bought. Eg if you bought her a new bicycle that would be OK.
You can't use it as general household funds though or to pay the bills, needs to be for her benefit explicitly.

If you have to use a credit card to pay to see a solicitor then please do and if necessary fight for what your DD is entitled to. The siblings are trying to fob you (and their sister) off, don’t let them succeed in this otherwise you may never forgive yourself.

Again, if you have home insurance, check the policy to see if it provides you with a free legal helpline. Most do.

I'm also dealing with a complex situation regarding my mum's estate, and my insurer's legal helpline has been a lifesaver for me. Everyone I've spoken to (I've had to call many times!) has been really helpful, kind, and competent. They're actually lawyers, not CAB volunteers.

They're being CF-ers. Your daughter has a legal right to a third of the value of the estate, once debts are paid. Lawyer up and don't sign anything they put in front of you.

Op don't sleepwalk through this, please take the advise to find out how much the overall estate is worth, this sound like their trying to keep it quick and simple because the overall pot is bigger.

You need to get legal advice and find out who is actually dealing with his estate intestate

because your DD is entitled to a 1/3 of his estate if he died without a will and a decent solicitor should be contacting you about this

whi have you had contact with so far

I'm sorry for your loss. I don't have a lot of knowledge in this area but just wanted to say when I opened a children's savings account for my son I discussed withdrawals with the bank and they said it's fine for me to withdraw money on behalf of the child. My name could stay on the account until they were 18 I think. There aren't any checks on how it's going to be spent. However, I don't know how they would deal with regular withdrawals. Perhaps it's worth talking to a building society about it? It sounds like you do need proper advice.

The maintenance talk is coming from others, not me. When I say I don't want any of his money, I mean that I'm not concerned about the covering the maintenance until she's 18. Now I know she's entitled to a third of his estate then that changes things. I didn't know that so hadn't thought about it. My thoughts so far were: he's dead so no money for Dd any more from him. Inheritance had not entered my head until the eldest mentioned it. The adult dc are still quite young and not really processing this well and haven't seen a solicitor yet and administrators have not been appointed but this will be the two adult dc I'm told. Wife said finances were never settled with the divorce but I'm not sure how that works because my own divorce couldn't be finalised before the finances were. They are definitely divorced though and she is remarried. There's no confusion over that aspect. The house is worth around £350K at a rough guess.

If the "estate" consists of an unknown percentage of a house (which may actually be 0%), a pension and some debts, there may be no "estate" to divide... OP ignore the people telling you to pay for legal advice at this stage... I'm sure it will all come to light soon enough and I think if your daughter (or you) do benefit financially it'll be a bonus. Your benefits shouldn't be affected negatively though.

How long is it since the Father died?

"The house is worth around £350K at a rough guess."

Depending on how big the mortgage was and whether there was any life insurance etc your DD could be looking at quite a bit more than £30k in that case.

She was unwanted by him and there's no chance he would have named her in a will even if there was one.

Please don't let this cloud your judgement. If he had tried this you would have been able to challenge the will on the grounds that he had not made 'reasonable provision' for her. I'm no legal expert but common sense would suggest that a minor child for whom maintenance was being paid should have an entitlement to 'reasonable provision'.

You should be able to find a solicitor who will take their fees from the inheritance, given that the case is so clear cut. Is he named on her birth certificate?