Inspired Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I was visiting with a friend recently who's daughter is physically disabled. The daughter receives the higher rate disability allowance but not the carer allowance. The daughter lives at home with her mum and dad for free and has done for years so doesn't receive housing benefit or council tax benefit. Although her parents care for her, she doesn't need constant hands on care and can do things for herself so they don't receive any care benefits. My friend and her husband are increasingly concerned that their daughter is becoming very isolated and would love her to have some independence. They would like to buy her a house in her name nearby so she can have a secure lifelong home of her own without having to worry about housing benefits or moving whilst knowing her family are close by. Although this is a nice gesture on their part, they are worried this could negatively impact on their daughter as they are not sure if she would be entitled to keep her benefits or if she would qualify for council tax benefit as she would now be classed as a homeowner. We started talking about it whilst watching an episode of Homes under the hammer where a family bought a plot of land and built a property for their disabled son but the show obviously didn't go into detail about how this would effect the benefits the son received as he had now been gifted a house. If anyone has any experience or general advice to gifting their disabled children I'll pass it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppet2 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Make an appointment with a local community disabled organisation. There is normally one in every city. There should be an advisor available to give you impartial advice to help you through this mindfield. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Let's start with Disability Living Allowance. You can still claim that if you're a billionaire; it is completely unaffected by other income or capital wealth. If your friend's daughter is given a home, and goes to live in it, it won't count as capital assets so far as a claim for Income Support or Council Tax Benefit is concerned. However, should she go and live there and start claiming those benefits, any money her parents contribute towards her living costs on any sort of a regular basis would have to be taken into account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Given! Not gifted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspired Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 Thanks for the replies. I know they are concerned about putting their daughter in a difficult position as they don't know the rules on gifting but at the same time are a little apprehensive of contacting anyone official at this stage until they know more. The daughter seems relatively content and happy at home but she is in her 20's and they want her to experience some normal life. In the future she may need care and rather than cost the taxpayer housing benefit and care allowances they thought she might be able to offer a room at a cheap rate to a friend who could help her out now and again if needed. Maybe the benefits and tax system just isn't set up for situations like this and they would rather her cost them a fortune in housing and care benefits to fall in line. Just remembered she did say that they don't even know if someone receiving disability benefits is able to claim council tax benefit unless the house is modified in some way which I don't think it would be as they would basically just buy her a normal house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 There's no harm in them asking, they won't be penalised for considering the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I always think it's best not to ask for advice on a matter like this on a forum like this as it's impossible to assess the situation properly due to a lack of detailed information and need for confidentiality. DLA would not be affected, as someone has pointed out above, if the daughter moved into her own home but she'd need other benefits to live on, probably ESA and council tax benefit. These are means-tested and so any savings would be taken into account but not the value of the home. Tell the family to go to their nearest advice service and ask for a benefits assessment in the case of the daughter moving into her own home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Tell the family to go to their nearest advice service and ask for a benefits assessment in the case of the daughter moving into her own home. Sound advice. Even if I know I'm telling the truth, for all the OP knows I could be making stuff up on purpose just to mislead him. The CAB, or some equivalent service, can be relied upon to be giving you accurate information. A forum cannot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspired Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 I always think it's best not to ask for advice on a matter like this on a forum like this as it's impossible to assess the situation properly due to a lack of detailed information and need for confidentiality. DLA would not be affected, as someone has pointed out above, if the daughter moved into her own home but she'd need other benefits to live on, probably ESA and council tax benefit. These are means-tested and so any savings would be taken into account but not the value of the home. Tell the family to go to their nearest advice service and ask for a benefits assessment in the case of the daughter moving into her own home. Thanks. The daughter is single with no children and no savings. They would buy her the house but hoped she would still receive the same benefits which would enable her to get by on as she does now plus just council tax benefit but from your post if council tax is means tested then that would be out due to her newly acquired asset if that's how it works. I will tell her to go and see someone or I might go on her behalf, just thought I'd see what you all think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Thanks. The daughter is single with no children and no savings. They would buy her the house but hoped she would still receive the same benefits which would enable her to get by on as she does now plus just council tax benefit but from your post if council tax is means tested then that would be out due to her newly acquired asset if that's how it works. I will tell her to go and see someone or I might go on her behalf, just thought I'd see what you all think. No. I wrote that the value of the home WON'T be taken into account for CTB. Only other properties, savings, some other income etc, will. That's the same for ESA and CTB. If the daughter has low savings (under about £6,000) then she'll get full CTB and ESA. Someone could also get Carer's Allowance for providing at least 35 hours of care a week subject to some rules (eg carer's other income). Use http://www.advicesheffield.org.uk/ to find a local advice service. It's best if the daughter goes, even if accompanied by you or her family, as no one will give confidential advice to someone on someone else's behalf. The person directly affected needs to be there to give full background information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.