UC and gifting from house sale

Vicks82

My mum and dad have moved and are in the process of selling their house. They currently receive UC to help with rent and Pension Credits.

When the sale goes through they will have around £90,000, but they want to give my sister and I some money from the sale as our inheritance. This will leave them with around £40,000 as they also want to pay off some debts. They know their means tested benefits will change, but they are worried they may get in trouble for giving money to us. Are they allowed to do this? Is there a certain way they need to go about it, such as gifting through the solicitors at the time of sale? We can't seem to find much information about it.

Thank you.

poppy123456

Giving money away, regardless of who it’s to will be seen as deprivation of capital and they could be classed as still having the money. There’s no way around this. 

Vicks82 said:

They currently receive UC to help with rent and Pension credit.

For the avoidance of doubt this isn’t possible because you can’t receive both of those together. 

If it’s UC they are claiming and not pension credit then if they have savings of more than £16,000 on the last day of their assessment period then their UC will end. 

For council tax reduction all local Authorities have their own rules and some have a maximum savings limit of £6,000 before entitlement ends.
Once the money goes into their bank they need to report the changes for all means tested benefits.

If it's pension credit they are claiming then savings rules are different.

Vicks82

Thank you for your help.

I thought they were getting both, but I could be mistaken. My mum isn't state pension age yet, it is only my dad that gets pension credits, would that mean they can claim both? I know this makes no difference in relation to the house sale, it is just for clarification.

poppy123456

No, they can't claim both individually because they are a couple. The rules for mixed aged couples changed in May 2019. Unless they claimed Pension credit before this date then they wouldn't have been able to claim it after. This will mean it must be UC they're claiming as couple.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Mixed-age-couples

janer1967

Hi I'm no expert but winder how they get help with rent if they own their own home 

Have they moved into a rented property 

Vicks82

They have moved into a rented property and their house is up for sale, they don't have much income until the sale goes through. 

My dad is 75, he is 10 years older than my mum. 
Apologies as I may have mixed up some information.

Thank you for clarifying the money from the sale of the house.
I presume everything will stop once the sale goes through 

calcotti

When your mum reaches 66 UC would end anyway and your mum will be entitled to her State Pension. Your dad is likely getting his State pension - not Pension Credit.