Inheritance while on Universal Credit: what are my options?

[Stressedmum6761]

Hi everyone! 👋 I'm currently losing my marbles and need to speak to anyone who's been in the same boat.

My nanny passed away nearly 2 years ago now and it's taken a while for her things to be settled and sold etc. My family passed me a letter today addressed to me from my sweet, beautiful nan and a cheque for nearly £12K. I've been in absolute bits all day I keep bursting into tears. I've never had this much in my life and never ever expected anything from my nan at all and it's absolutely thrown me.

The thing is I know I should be absolutely THRILLED with this money, I'm on my own with DD who's 6 now. We've just moved into a council house 2 months ago and I'm on UC top up which also covers my rent, my job doesn't pay well but it's a school job and I get my holidays off with DD. I'm panicking more than anything because I know that as soon as I cash this cheque UC are going to deduct money each month (about £120 if my maths is correct).

My family said they know nan wanted me to put a deposit down on a house, which again I know if I get a mortgage my UC stops and I'm financially liable for the payments and any repairs etc if anything goes Pete Tong.

I'm thinking about just putting most of it in a LISA for now and potentially in the future buying a house...maybe a once in a lifetime holiday with the rest. I'm just torn because if I buy a house, I'll be so much worse off than I am now getting help from UC with rent payments etc. I've just moved into this house and started decorating and making it my own. I'm worried about the money sitting there and me being so scared to spend anything while also having money deducted from my monthly payments. Again, I'm absolutely ecstatic I've got this chunk of money for security but the fact that it's going to effect me whether I spend it or not is flapping me to the core.

What do I do? Has anyone had experience with coming into money while also being on benefits? Thank youuu from a very emotional and stressed mum.

The cut off is £16k. OP will still be on UC with her £12k.

Nope you've been told multiple times I'll still be entitled. Unfortunately for you. Why do poor people need to stay poor btw? Are people who receive UC not allowed to have savings or do we need to be forever in debt to the people who can afford to live better 🤔

As previously suggested, you could train as a teacher so you don't stay poor. You sound young, able, your dc is at school, what's stopping you?

Maybe OP actually really enjoys her job? Not everyone is cut out to be a teacher.
If everyone trained to do something better, then who would be doing the low paid work?

I think it is a sad when someone doing an important but low paid job is seen as the one to blame for not having much money.

I can't believe there is a conversation about how a person claiming UC can use £12,000 when the tax payer is still paying her and yet here we are.
I don't see how she or anyone else can expect to receive State Benefits when they have funds available to pay for themselves, even if only for a short while .

Benefits are supposed to be there when someone needs help and support.
Not to encourage inventive ways of frittering away an inheritance so you can still claim the maximum amount from the taxpayer.
When youve spent your new found money on your living costs assuming you dont want/have to increase the amount you work, then bother the taxpayer again

She can expect to continue to receive UC because the cut off is £16k.
Take it up with the DWP if you think £12k is too much, because having a go at OP who is doing nothing wrong is really shitty.

Nobody has said “poor people have to stay poor” - they are your own words. Several people have suggested seeing whether you can use some of the cash to fund additional training to increase your earning potential. It’s fine if you don’t want to do that and nobody should try to force you to. The money is rightly yours to do what you want with.

What wouldn’t be fair is to do anything to manipulate the tapering of UC, as has been suggested by some posters.

For the people commenting that it’s not huge amounts we’re talking about, if that got multiplied by everyone claiming UC it’d be a very significant number. I’d also be interested in the statistics around the number of people with £12k in savings in the country - yes it’s not a life changing amount but it’s not insignificant by any means.

You are not in debt to anyone, as you know, it doesn't work like that. Society is offering you a safety net for the time being because you need it, however, there are rules and conditions attached. Anything up to 6k you can keep without any change, that's brilliant. Some economist will have calculated that anything over that and there will be deductions. Most important thing is to declare it asap.

In your position, I'd look to become fully independent by training as a teacher (it's all paid for by the way and you won't lose benefits). This way you have the chance to give back to society in terms of taxes which will support others in need. Also you will find so much confidence in not relying on benefits, and having a career and you have full freedom over any future additional money that comes your way.

It sounds quite exciting, being a TA is a wonderful starting point. You have all the opportunities and some lovely money on the side. Enjoy

OP does not have the money yet though. It is a cheque, and a PP made the valid point that if the cheque is signed by her nan, then she wont be able to cash it in anyway.

Yo have beautifully illustrated why UC can disincentivise people form earning more.

If OP choses to stay in a low paying job and relies on UC sadly she cannot fully control her inheritance. If she wants independence and to contribute to this system that has helped her she could become a teacher. It's her choice. She is lucky to have a choice due to benefits. Best part, she own't have to pay a penny for this wonderful opportunity. So is still taken care of.

She might not want to be a teacher. Not everyone is cut out for it.

I could train to be a teacher. I could train to be anything I wanted given the chance. The issue is time and who looks after my child while I'm doing said training. Night courses are off because who's going to look after her? I can't reduce my hours due to my contract. That leaves me to leave my current stable job to go full time student, with no guarantee of a job at the end of the training. I'm sure everyone would have an issue with me doing that too. 🙄

12k in the scheme of housing etc is not alot of money. one thing you can do is look at putting it into a part share property ie you own a % of it. Like 25% then pay rent on the remainder. I would investigate this before putting the cheque anywhere - sort out what is possible first and on here is not the best place to do that

I do hope you say this to all the NHS nurses and other staff who receive UC top ups too.

Unfortunately you don't make the rules. If you don't like the regulations I suggest you ask your MP to take it up with the secretary of state for work and pensions. I'm sure they'll take it on board.

My friend who is single and doesn’t have children is starting training to be a teacher next month. She has seen her schedule and spoke to me about it - it’s a lot!

These people are on cloud cuckoo land, I wonder how many throwing out all these suggestions have been lone parents long term without significant support from a co-parent/family member etc?

They seem completely unaware of the challenges of parenting a small child alone and trying to retrain or work in a job that’s year round.

Also may I ask - does your child’s father contribute at all? If not, I wish he was made to pay his fair share. But that of course isn’t your fault.

I don’t have kids but I have every sympathy for women or men doing it alone. I used to babysit for multiple of my friends who were single parents when I was younger so they could get a break or go to work. Because I did it for free they were able to work in quite low paid jobs and still be better off with what they earner. If I’d charged them it wouldn’t have been worth it for them to work those hours.

I’d rather people who care about the government subsiding people would park their gripes about low earners with benefit top ups and would focus their ire and energy on the other end of the social spectrum.

Let’s look at those tax loopholes which help the very rich hide millions of income to prevent the government from claiming tax income which would really help the country.

£12,000 is a tiny drop in the bucket - which could make a significant difference in this single mother’s life.

@Lowlagal well said 👏

Honestly its really upsetting when people can't put themselves in someone else's shoes. I wish I wasn't on UC. I wish I had qualifications and training to get a highly paid job and be able to afford the childcare so I could work through the holidays.

I wish I didn't have to buy second hand furniture and clothes (although I still probably would, save the planet and all 😅) and trawl the freesites for stuff I need for my home. I wish I could whisk us both away on holiday on a whim and not have to worry.

Her dad sees her every other weekend and pays the bare minimum. My family all work too and have their own kids/grandkids to look after. I don't have a mum or dad either. So I'm essentially alone, my daughter goes to before and after school clubs so I can work, but again they're only starting from 7:30am and then finish at 17:30, so I'm limited on work again due to travel times and some jobs dont finish till later than I can collect her from school. People just don't think about this stuff.

Yes it really is upsetting and frustrating too. But unfortunately some people are totally lacking in empathy and others have just lived a very sheltered life. Or maybe it’s just a general lack of imagination.

So - assuming he doesn’t have other childcare responsibilities - he is free to work as many hours as he wants on weekdays while your earnings are limited since realistically you can only work term time. How dreadfully unfair and so many women go through this.

Hopefully it will be easier on you once she gets into secondary school.

And in the meantime you must find a good deal and take yourself and your child on holiday with a little bit of this money!

Retraining is the privilege of those who have an income source while they train.
Likewise taking an entry-level role (as a mature adult with responsibilities) with potential to increase in some years.

Not everyone is cut out for the further education needed for the level of training of being a teacher.

It's really not that hard to understand that some people know themselves well enough to know that further education isn't going to work for them, and that they don't have, or don't have the study skills to be able to achieve, the basic qualifications needed to get onto an undergraduate teacher training course.

What's stopping you understanding that?

Agreed. And the fact remains, someone is going to be doing the TA role, and they’ll likely be entitled to top up benefits. This is what some people here are saying: the net contributors (tax wise) are supplementing the economy, and there are people providing services that otherwise wouldn’t have enough to live on: everybody benefits. It’s a society of cooperation and consideration of others. Not an animalistic, “this is my hoard that I’ve accrued by being the biggest and therefore the best and all the rest of you be damned”.

Do you know how hard it is to train as a teacher? It isn't a local college course. The PGCE is very rigorous and you can be sent quite far away for your placements. As a single mum with a young child, if you don't have water tight child care that will be really difficult with a young child. And besides, there are many teachers who are on UC!