that if you leave an inheritance to children on state benefits they will normally lose their benefits?
It’s quite common to leave an inheritance to a child who is on state benefits. Perhaps the child wasn’t on state benefits when you made the Will but are at the time you die.
It’s good to get the inheritance but why lose the state benefits if you don’t have to. Here’s an example.
An elderly client of 84 with only £56,000 in assets wishes to leave everything to her 2 daughters. The Will couldn’t be more straight forward but if she only had a Will, when she dies, there will be probate required but, more importantly, when the 2 daughters inherit their £28,000 they will no longer qualify for state benefits.
McClure’s solution was to set up a Family Protection Trust for the mother and put her £56,000 into that Trust. That means when she dies there will be no probate to do which is handy. However much more importantly when she dies the 2 daughters can have the benefit of their inheritance but not lose their state benefits. This is a good example of circumstances when the client needs a Will but the Will is not enough by itself. It is also a good example of where a part of smart planning at the time can give the mother and indeed her 2 daughters a much better outcome.
An additional benefit here is that if the mother were to go into care she would get her care paid for her and there should be no recovery by the local authority as putting the assets into the Trust was not done for the purpose of avoiding care. It was done for the purpose of protecting the 2 daughters’ state benefits. That makes all the difference in the world.
Just contact us on 0800 852 1999 or email contactus@mcclure-solicitors.co.uk to arrange a chat with one of our Estate Planning Consultants.
Home visits are available.