Benefits advice - will I lose benefits if my ex moves in so I can care for him?

titch123

Hi I'm 65 and have loads of questions to ask so looking for help please

titch123

I'm on a pension receive pension credi/saving and disability. I've been separated 15 but now my husband has cancer my boys want me to let him come home until the end he's NOT claiming anything will I loose my benifits if I let him come home. 

bam

Hello @titch123 welcome to the community. Your situation seems pretty urgent. If you scroll down into the categories you will find the benefit adviser who is really knowledgeable and knows what they're talking about. They would love to answer any question you may have. We're here for you

Sam_Alumni

Hi @titch123 welcome to the community, I have moved your post so that the benefit advisors will see it and hopefully be able to offer you some information and support.  

You could also take a look at the benefits calculator where you can put in different scenarios and see what the benefits outcome would be and what your ex husband could possibly claim, 

Im not entirely sure from your post, but is he terminally ill? There is information here about claiming benefits under these special circumstances.

If you feel like you could do with some one to one support you can call the Scope helpline on 0808 800 3333

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi titch123

The first question is will you be living together as a couple or will your ex-husband be moving in just so you can care for him? It’s an important distinction.

It is possible for two single adults even if they are still married to live in the same house/dwelling and maintain separate households which means to live separately and be treated as two single people rather than a couple.

The difference between living together as a couple or living in the same house but maintaining separate households is the impact it will have on entitlement to certain benefits, such as pension credit. If you are a couple you would be expected to make a joint claim to certain benefits but if you were maintaining separate households you would both be classed as two single people and claim individually.

You say you get disability but do you mean disability living allowance (DLA)? If so I would need to know what rates of which components you receive. There are two components one for care and one for mobility.

Also you say your ex-husband doesn’t claim anything but when someone is terminally ill then like Sam has said in her post there are special rules for claiming disability benefits which he would ordinarily be entitled to so well worth following the link  Sam put in her post about that. If he is 65 or over it would be attendance allowance he would claim and if he is under 65 it would be personal independence payment. Further to this what is his income?

It is likely your benefits would be affected but how depends on the answer to my questions and a number of other factors such as if there is anyone else living with you. In addition if your ex-husband claims a disability benefit this could lead to you being able to claim carers allowance which would mean an increase in your income.

Finally, there are quite a few ifs and buts here and I apologise for the length of this post but please don’t let that put you off, if you post back on here we will do our best to talk you through your options and what to do. Alternatively if you’d rather speak to someone then you could call the advice line 0808 800 3333 and they will talk you through it.

Hope that helps

Best wishes

Paul