Benefits and splitting up

[RedFlagsAllOver]

If you are married and live in a rented property then one moves out relationship broken down and buys a flat, could the other person living in the rented house with the children claim benefits?

Since it would have been bought with marital money/savings it may be seen as deprivation of capital.

If so, they will treat you as if you still have that money, and any savings over 16k will zero out a benefits claim.

Would that still be the case If you got divorced? I know for eg if I bought my son a flat or something then tried to claim Benefits it would be classed as that. I'm stuck in a shit marriage and he's basically living off my inheritance

If you have savings of £16k then you won’t get a bean. If you sell the house and there is more equity than that then you’ll have to consider that.

You've said your inheritance? All money, possessions etc are classed as being in the 'marital pot' to be divided up between you. If your money etc is complicated then I'd advise getting proper legal advice. If the savings are substantial then doing anything with them is classed as deprivation of assets as the DWP would class it as savings which you could be living off.

Would that still be the case If you got divorced? I know for eg if I bought my son a flat or something then tried to claim Benefits it would be classed as that. I'm stuck in a shit marriage and he's basically living off my inheritance

Who is who in your initial scenario?

You've got an inheritance, yes? Is your husband going to stay in the rented house with the children and claim benefits whilst you buy a house alone with your inheritance?

Husband in rented house with kids.
Me moving out and buying a flat.
I'm just looking at options.

It wouldn't be a house can't afford a house only a studio flat or similar

If you get divorced, you'll either have to agree how your money will be divided up, or ask the courts to decide. But let's say you get half each.

If that half is over £16,000, but you use it to buy a house, you can still claim UC. If it's more than £16,000 and you choose to rent, it will disqualify you from claiming UC. Once you have reasonably spent enough money to take your capital below £16,000, you can claim UC.

You can own property and still claim UC. As long as you live in the property, don't own any other propertys and don't have more than £16k in savings.
You won't be entitled to any housing cost though, they don't offer anything toward mortgage payments x

• Husband in rented house with kids. Me moving out and buying a flat. I'm just looking at options.*

Would you be claiming benefits or your husband?

Is the inheritance going to be shared between the two of you?

I thought inheritance wasn’t classed as a joint asset unless it was turned into something else like an investment or asset.

It’s dependent on circumstances. In England and Wales, if it hasn’t been treated as household finances or used to buy a property, a case can be made for it to be excluded. However, the divorce settlement aims to put both parties on an equal footing according to their needs: an inheritance can be considered for the settlement if there’s no other way of creating parity with the other available assets and finances. A court won’t agree one person leaving with nothing whilst the other keeps their entire inheritance.

OP, Lougle’s answer is pretty comprehensive. The inheritance will potentially be split and depending on how much it is, you may or may not be able to claim UC.

I think some people are confused with what I'm asking.. I don't want to claim any benefits I'm talking about if my husband carried on renting the house after I no longer live in it can he claim benefits. I'm aware of the 16k cut off, that's why he's currently living off my inheritance. He lost his job and obviously as I was left money we couldn't claim anything.

It depends on how much he recovers during the divorce. So, for example you can't deliberately give him less than £16k if that would represent less of a 'share' of the marital pot , therefore if he's going to end up with more than £16k he'd have to live off of it 'normally' until it drops under £16k. If his 'share' would be under £16k he could claim benefits immediately

My answer still stands, just from his perspective. It depends how much he gets in the divorce, and whether he uses that money towards a house or not.

If he's living off your inheritance then the money is already family money and will likely be split during the divorce. If he agreed to take no money in a divorce where he would have been entitled to a split that would also be deprivation of capital.

You need to divorce him fairly and then once he has spent his share at a reasonable rate (i.e lived off it) he will be able to claim benefits.

My parents went through similar when they split. He did work but earned far less than she did so he got two thirds of the money in exchange for her keeping her full pension. He wasn't able to claim benefits for 5 years until the money was gone and then was able to get a top up for his low earnings until he qualified for pension credit and retired.

If your inheritance was obtained during the marriage and has been used for joint expenses, then it could be considered a matrimonial asset, and you might have to give him half. Especially if he has the kids. I would seek advice from a lawyer.