I am dealing with an estate where a beneficiary is refusing to accept an inheritance of c£25,000. We have been told that the reason for this is because she is in receipt of benefits and receipt of capital funds will affect that. We can ask her to disclaim and then redistribute the sum in question. My question to the forum is whether any disclaimer should be reported by my firm to the DWP as disclaiming the inheritance could amount to a benefit fraud? Any views/comments/similar experiences welcome. Thank you.
A disclaimer will still be seen as intentional deprivation.
The beneficiary should be made aware of that before any action is taken so that they are aware of the consequences of their intended action.
Whilst the beneficiary might not be your client, you know enough to know they need to obtain advice before proceeding with a disclaimer.
If they proceed in ignorance and you report them to the DWP, I suspect the beneficiary could reasonably raise a complaint against you.
If, having been appropriately advised hey go ahead regardless, then I agree you are probably bound to inform the DWP
Paul Saunders FCIB TEP
Independent Trust Consultant
Providing support and advice to fellow professionals