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.

Exactly this.

Daft idea to make people leave their social housing property, just because they earn a few quid more than they did when they took on the tenancy. What these 'people shouldn't be allowed social housing for life' whingers don't realise is if people are thrown out when they are better off financially, and made to move from their £480 a month social housing home into a £1500 a month private let, (or into a £900-£1200 a month mortgage plus all the repairs property,) they will be potless and broke again, putting them in the position of needing social housing again.

Stupid idea to make people give it up. As you say, more social housing is needed, not throwing out the people who are in it FFS, because they dared to get a better job and do OK for themselves.

And let's face it, the majority of people who qualified for social housing are never going to be very high earners. So stop banging that bloody boring drum 'people should not be allowed social housing for life!' Yes they bloody should. Everyone should be entitled to secure, affordable, rented housing, and yes for LIFE, even if they start to earn more a few years after the get the tenancy.

As I said, some people on here want others to be miserable and broke and struggling, and cannot BEAR it that some people in social housing are happy and comfortable. (Not all, as some do still struggle financially.)

@Stressedmum6761 As I and many others have said. Stay put. In your social housing. Ignore the naysayers and haters. They are jealous and bitter.

Have you put the question through chat gpt?

Often you can see mortgage advisors for free. Might be worth it. The one we used got his fee from the lender when we took the mortgage out.

You say you have a few better off relatives. Would this provide you with any kind of safety net if you owned a small house and something went wrong? Would they help on an ad hoc basis, for eg buy you a washing machine if yours broke?

Otherwise in my very much non professional opinion, it seems like financially your best option would be to “get rid” of £6k so that your UC wouldn’t be affected and remain in social housing. It’s shit that society is set up like this, I do think that society as a whole would be better off if there was a bit of a safety net for people in your position buying a home. The govt should want you in an owned home. You could easily get rid of £6k though. Pay off your car loan or get a better car. Job done.

That’s the obvious tning to do. Your child will absolutely need it once they get older as things are getting harder all the time. We have two ISAs for the children and use the MoneyBox app and it’s currently giving around an 8% interest rate.

Why is private rental the aim? Pay off a private landlord's mortgage? No thanks.

Housing is a very basic need. If you tell people that if they better themselves they will lose a secure tenancy, be thrown at the mercy of private landlords who wont even let them put a picture on the wall... why try and better your situation??

Oh my god are you still wittering on 😂 so what did you expect me to do today, exactly? Cash the cheque, pack up my house, buy a new one, tell the government I no longer need ANY help from them whatsoever and live a lavish lifestyle free from debt or hardship?

Think you need to go to bed love.

Well you’ve already said that. And I said that’s maybe a discussion for another thread as Ops thread wasn’t asking opinions about whether people should get a council house for life or not. Although I know it’s an argument that peope LOVE to have on MN and drag into every discussion.

So what is your opinion on what OP should do? Again - are you saying she should move out now she has this money?

Private renting is absolutely not the way to go, that’s for sure.

But a 110k property could be.

I’m not “sponging off the state” and I don’t agree with you. In fact I pay a huge amount of tax. I have ZERO problem with a low income single mum looking for ways to better her circumstances for herself and her daughter.

Are you still wittering on?

In 2020 the people being told now that they aren’t good enough because they need UC to supplement their full time wages are the people in the kind of jobs everyone sitting at home for months went out to clap for.

Many key workers are on wages low enough to need top ups, especially single income households.

It isn’t just people who aren’t working who are getting UC and it feels like many people forget that. It’s just unfortunate that cost of living has risen so much that a single low income worker needs a top up and a hard days work isn’t paying enough.

Are you still wittering on?

However, none of this is relevant to the OPs attempts to hide her windfall so she can keep begging free money from other people.

She's not entitled to keep begging from other people when she has enough money to fund her own life. That's all there is to it.

Stay humble.
You could be a "grifter" after falling funny on the stairs, or waking up in the night and having a stroke.
Why not complain about OP not getting paid enough to live?

I'm not enraged I'm amused by you. Please do tell me what you would of done with the unexpected £12K cheque that you were handed at 2pm today? I'd love to hear it 😊

As I understand, the money isn't yours until you bank it. I would hold off until you are in position to buy a property and then bank the cheque and use your other savings to purchase if you can. A good mortgage broker would be able to tell it you if you eligible or not.

You know that once you bank that cheque, your UC will reduce and those savings will dwindle quickly. I know some posters will argue this is not moral, but I don't believe it's illegal. A bit like tax avoidance.

12K isn't a lot either and will go very quickly, so best to use it when you ready to buy, rather than bank it now and watch it disappear.

Your use of “begging” tells us everything we need to know about your narrow minded views of people who claim benefits.

Remember you’re just a lost job, a missed mortgage payment, an accident away from maybe needed to claim yourself- wonder if you’d call it “begging” then.

Nah. Not remotely. Have never even hinted that UC or such should not exist.

OP is, however, a beggar. She's literally stated she plans to keep begging and hide her money, instead of using her own money to live. Like a normal person.

Legally she is allowed that money and still will be entitled to benefits, so what’s your actual point?

Yes, yes I understand you're enraged and absolutely desperate to insult me into silence. That won't work, as I don't care what beggars think of me.

Oh, and ageist too? Are young people all beggars, liars and thieves? No, I don't think so. Plenty of honest people your age.

You're just not one of them.

Please show the class where this was stated? You're embarrassing yourself now please carry on, it's hilarious 😂

Do you understand what literally means? Because OP has not done that in any sense, and definitely not in a literal one.

Or could you quote where OP has “literally” stated this? As clearly a few of us can’t see it.