ESA & inherited part share in a property

wend123

Hi

My brother and I have inherited from my mum's will, her half share of her house (Tennant's in common) and our step farther still lives in the house. Unfortunately our step dad doesn't have the means to buy us out so until he  passes away or decides he can no longer manage and has to sell the house, we are unable get our inheritance share. We have been advised by a solicitor our only option is to protect our inheritance by having our names on the land registry as all tenants in common, my brother and I will both have a 25% share and my step dad a 50% share.  
My brother has mental health issues and is unable to work, he receives ESA which is based on his contribution record and any additional amount the law says he needs to live on.
He gets extra money because he's in the support group.
Extra money because he's severely disabled.
Extra money because of the disability income guarantee.
He also gets pip.

Will his benefits be effected by having a 25% share?
I understand if we ever see any money they'll be effected then, but 
we could be waiting another 10-20 years before my step dad passes away, we might even pass away before him!

calcotti

PIP is unaffected because it is not means tested.

For ESA he would need to declare the part ownership and DWP then have to decide whether or not the capital can be ignored, if capital is over £16,000 and not disregarded the income based ESA would stop. 

The contribution based ESA is not affected because it is not means tested.

is the step father pension age? If he is the capital will be disregarded.
Similarly if step father is not pension age but receives a disability benefit the capital will be disregarded.

Even if neither of the above apply DWP can still disregard the capital share if it is not practical to sell the property because the co owners cannot agree to sell and one party cannot force the sale,

wend123

Thanks for your reply.
Yes our step dad is pension age and the house is his main residence. Every solicitor I have spoken to has said no court of law would force him to sell the house due to his age, so our only option is to sit and wait.

poppy123456

wend123 said:

Thanks for your reply.
Yes our step dad is pension age and the house is his main residence. Every solicitor I have spoken to has said no court of law would force him to sell the house due to his age, so our only option is to sit and wait.

It still needs to be reported to ESA. As your step dad is of state pension age it will be disregarded anyway.

calcotti

He will need to report the inheritance but tell them that the property is lived in by his step father who is pension age, this means the value will be disregarded and the ESA will not be affected.

wend123

Thank you for your replies, that's a relief.
I've only just found out that even though we can't get our inheritance from the house, that it could still be classed as an asset and effect my brother's benefits.
I've not told my brother this yet as he has bipolar and the stress & worry could set him off.

calcotti

wend123 said:

..that it could still be classed as an asset and effect my brother's benefits.

As advised in the replies, because the house is lived in by his step father who is pension age the value will be disregarded. It will still need to be reported, as also mentioned in the earlier replies.