Thread: Estate/inheritance of Friend who died and benefit effect

Hi,

My friend died over Christmas and I arranged the funeral, he had asked me to be the executer of his will. I agreed not fully understanding what that meant or it's implications.

Before I go any further I need to say that I am on incapacity benefit and DLA.

I have gone over his affairs; credit card and bank statements and pension policy informing all the involved parties and supplying them all with a Death Certificate. I also included a Breakdown of his estate and sent that too. I spoke to someone who stated that because there are no large assets or properties involved then probate won't be necessary.

I had initially suspected that the estate was in the red making it fairly uncomplicated, however since then I have found another pension policy and written to them. They replied this week and said that there was a small sum (£200) in a 'Non-Protected Rights' and a much larger sum (£19,000) in 'Protected Rights'.

My brother and I are the joint beneficiaries in the will but we expected that would be irrelevant since we assumed that only some small debts where left and nothing would remain to pass to us. But this puts the estate back into the black as the debts where about £13,000 leaving £6,000 total or £3,000 each.

I have sent them the claim form and they are I think going to send me a cheque to distribute amongst the beneficiaries after clearing the estate debts.

Now my question is I assume they will send me a cheque for the whole amount, I will then send cheque's to all the creditors and then one to my brother for the remaining £3,000 for his share. Because this goes through my bank account will it get me in trouble with the benefits agency for going over the amount where I have to tell them that I have more in my account than I'm allowed to have to claim benefits.?

Sorry to hear your friend passed away.

In regard to your question: Not unless you are retaining more than you are allowed to have. The money is not yours, it is being used to settle an estate and in order for the payments to clear, they have to go through a bank account. As long as you can prove that you were executor, as long as you can prove where the money has gone and why (bank transactions will show this) there should not be an issue, unless like I say the final sum left to you for you to keep is more than the allowed amount.

The SAFEST place (and I never thought I'd say this about banks lol) is in the bank because if they find out (which can be easily done) you received that sum of money, natuarally they want to know what you've done with it. If you can't prove what you've done with it, i.e you have no paper trail to back up where it has gone to, then yes they would look at you for possible fraud. With a bank, it goes in and it comes out, with a transaction ID which shows where it has gone. You keep all papers relating to debts of your late friend to show that they were indeed HIS debts. The debts on paper match the monies that are released from the account, and hey presto you have proof that the money was not yours, you were simply distributing it in accordance with the law.

Now, what I should also tell you is, if your friend received any benefits whatsoever, then there may have been overpayments, and they will also seek to recover this from the estate.

If the sum left to you is more than you are permitted to hold in savings, then yes you should declare it. You won't get into trouble for delcaring it but you could get into trouble if you don't declare it and they find out. If a fraud case for example was open on your file, they have the authority to get information directly from your bank.

Arent incapacity benefit and DLA non - means tested? Unless you are actually getting Income support due to incapacity?

Yup sorry, I do get a very small amount of Income Support (less than £10 per week).

Sorry, that was me just automatically assuming that you received Income Support as a "top up" as many people on Incapacity Benefit do.

Originally Posted by ErikaPNP

Sorry, that was me just automatically assuming that you received Income Support as a "top up" as many people on Incapacity Benefit do.

ARE YOU SAYING THAT INCAPACITY BENEFIT IS NOT MEANS TESTED DOES THAT APPLY RE CAPITAL RE council tax benefit does any body no

Incapacity Benefit is not means tested, as you receive it based upon your circumstances, not your income. Council Tax Benefit is means tested and they do count Incapacity Benefit as income (under "unearned income") in the same manner that they would count a retirement pension. Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance still need to be mentioned but is disregarded, i.e; not counted as income.

However, if you are receiving Incapacity Benefit and receive income support as a "top up" this will be because the sum of Incapacity received is not enough the sum that the government says you need to live on, so it is topped up. If you are recieving Income Support, (even as a top up) chances are that you may be entitled to Council Tax Benefit.

There are different rates of Incapacity benefit dependant on the extent of your incapacity.