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.

Sorry for your and your daughter's loss OP. I am not in a position to offer any advice to your situation

RTFT before commenting!!

She can perfectly easily set up a trust, it’s a normal thing to do.

If CAB haven’t been helpful just see a local solicitor OP, you’ll probably need one anyway to set the trust up. Their fee would come out of the capital and wouldn’t be a lot.

You’ll probably someone to be a signatory for the trust alongside you - a friend is fine - or the solicitor if you prefer and know you won’t need them to do much.

Do NOT do this!! It's illegal x

Sounds complicated, surely your DD’s dad and ex-wife had a financial settlement when they divorced? I agree you need to seek legal advice, to ensure your DD receives what she is entitled too from her dads estate. I would deal with this aspect first and then UC later.

Do you know how is the house owned? Sorry if I’ve missed it but if they owned it together then the whole property could be the ex wife’s and not actually part of the estate. If the ex wife owns the house she can chose to take her money and give the rest to her kids as their inheritance without a scrap of through for OPs daughter. The £30k might actually be them being nice if that’s the case. His actual legal estate may be smaller than £90k and if that’s the case then rocking the boat will end up with OPs daughter getting less money. I think it’s pretty clear that legal advice is needed and in terms of benefits I would think the best thing to do is invest the full sum in her name in some sort of trust. I’d see a financial planner for advice as well as a solicitor.

The house will not form part of the estate if held as joint tenants. It will automatically go to the ex-wife. Even if she only wants her half, she will get all of it and then she can give her kids some of that if she wants.

In this scenario, your daughter is entitled to 1/3 of everything else (money in bank accounts etc)

If held as tenants in common, situation is different. Then the house is part of the estate for following intestacy rules

Will the lack of her father's name on the birth certificate cause any issues?

You really need a solicitor very soon OP. I'm dealing with my DB's estate at the moment, it's a nightmare, so slow and complicated.

OP you can’t afford NOT to see a solicitor. Your daughter will have a claim and you as her parent for the maintenance plus she will inherit a third of whatever else there is. Please get a solicitor tomorrow.

@moneyisnotfunny again, in case you didn't see my earlier post, check your home insurance for a free legal advice helpline. It's very likely that one is included, and mine is even 24/7. You don't need to spend money at this stage, if you have helpline cover, but you do need to know what the situation is, and to get that from a legal professional, not us. They will tell you what to do next, both with regard to your DD's entitlement, and (hopefully) how to manage what she does receive in the end.

Just backing up what many others have said - your daughter should receive a third of his estate after funeral expenses and debts are paid.

Whether the house makes up part of the estate depends on how it was owned.
If he and his ex owned it as "joint tenants", it means they both owned it completely and therefore she automatically owns the whole house now. It will not be part of his estate.
If they were "tenants in common", it means they own different shares of the house each and therefore his share becomes part of his estate.

As for your daughter, you cannot use her inheritance for maintenance. It is her money. It should be held for her until she is 18 years old.

i know it’s uncomfortable to hear it - but these people are trying to screw your daughter over.

Yes, they and their mother have had time to form a plan that disadvantages your daughter, because ultimately that is what’s going to happen if you don’t take action. It’s a tale as old as time - family members (or ex-family members) of a recently deceased person trying to screw over other family members in their quest for money that isn’t theirs, legally.

No, she won't get a solicitor under legal aid. However, it may well be that the solicitor can be paid from the estate. OP, please start ringing round solicitors who specialist in wills, trusts and contentious probate on Monday.

The adults of the family sorting out the estate have said they want me to have what Dd would have had until she is an adult.

This is not how intestacy works.

A free legal help line is pointless without all the facts. A solicitor is needed.

I haven’t read every comment so don’t know if this has been suggested. But you should get some good legal advice. Your DD might be entitled to much more than the £30k and you accepting what is being offered by the family may be a way of ensuring you do not pursuit what she is possibly entitled to. You shouldn’t be forced to jump through hoops re the UC to continue to get the maintenance your dd has been getting and maybe she will get more that can be invested for her future.

With the best will in the world, why did you bother to comment?

Gosh op you've been bombarded with a whole heap of conflicting opinions and advice on here haven't you !. Basically , it sounds like the house is the key here. If the house forms the whole of his estate, as you seem to think, then the ownership of said house becomes key. If in the divorce the finances were not signed off as a 'clean break' which again is what it sounds like, then as joint tenant which is what most marital properties are owned as the ex wife would inherit the whole property in the absence of a will. It sounds like she has said she only wants her 'half' and that she wants all three children to benefit from the remainder. If the above is correct then legally there is no estate for your dd to inherit 1/3 share of, the ex wife is offering the £30k from the sale of the house she appears to be legally inheriting. You seem to have a reasonable relationship with them, and in the circumstances I suspect that they're not trying to 'rip you off' as some have suggested, and are actually trying really hard to keep you and dd involved, and near enough 10 years equivalent to maintenance when they may not be required to pay anything is reasonably generous. As I say , the key is the ownership of the house.sorry for yours and dd's loss.

This.

What you might be able to do is take the annual interest and use that for particular expenses like school uniform or trips etc. I

I was thinking that wouldn't be much on £30K but you say 1/3 of the estate would be more, so it might be quite helpful.

You will need proper legal advice.

If he had a pension and was maintaining your daughter there might be some income available from that - when my father died I was asked by his private pension scheme if he had dependents .

the ex-wife said she only wants half of what she put in to the house. They've been divorced about 20 years.

Interesting phrase half of what she put in. Not “the half that she owns” or “half of the whole that she’s entitled to”.

There is absolutely every chance that talk of joint tenants or tenants in common is a moot point, and she has no legal claim on this house at all.

Finances were never sorted 20 years ago.
This is a man who chose to have nothing to do with your daughter. At all. Her entire life.
He was an arsehole, being dead doesn’t change that.

PP saying worry for your daughter’s loss. Only loss appears to be £300 a month. What special kind of arsehole leaves their child without a father 8 years before he actually dies?

The helpline is staffed by solicitors.

Of course they will need as much as OP knows, and will probably suggest that she come back to them as and when she gathers more. But it's far better to go to a free helpline without all the facts, than to pay someone £500 when she doesn't yet have the facts.

In my experience they'll tell her when it's time to instruct a solicitor, and they'll also advice her on legal aid.

The ex wife who divorced him over 20 years ago wants half of the house? I bloody bet she does!

She OWNS half the house still.

as joint tenant which is what most marital properties are owned as the ex wife would inherit the whole property in the absence of a will

There are a huge number of marital properties where women are not joint tenants or tenants or common on. It’s why form HR1 needs to exist, really. Women earning less, not earning, bad credit rating… spend a day on MN and you’ll see the threads from these women!

So I’m not asking you’re wrong about “most” but the minority isn’t insignificant. You are spot on that it’s key. Although, the pension (and potential death in service) could be sizeable too.