Pension Credits and Inheritance

[Kaelsin]

Hey all,

I was hoping someone may point me in the right direction for advice.

My grandad is 95, lives alone, receives the state pension and lives in a small council bungalow.

His only asset is the small amount of savings he has.

For years, he has helped elderly people out in his local area with gardening work and trips to appointments, etc. He spoke to me this morning and is worried as he has received a letter that he has inherited a small amount of money from one of the residents that has unfortunately passed away.

He is worried as the gift and his savings would push him just above £10k and may mean he would need to be re-assessed and “doesn’t want that hassle at his time of life”.

I’ve spoken to CAB and Age UK who haven’t been able to offer any advice except pointing me at government pages for pension credits.

He is currently looking to reject the inheritance, as he doesn’t want the hassle and stress of being reassessed and worries he may lose out overall - this seems a shame for all the work he has done and I’m just trying to find if he definitely would need to be reassessed or not or if there are any other options for him.

 

[Kaelsin]

Thank you for the advice and replies so far.

One thing that has popped up in my research is if he is in an assessed income period. When my nan passed away just over 6 years ago, he thinks he was assessed then and then was told by the assessor that he would likely not be assessed again. From what I understand, he may have been given an indefinite period, which I think means he wouldn’t be assessed again, but I’m not totally sure and trying to find any documentation he has around this.

At the moment, his mindset is that he wants to send the cheque back, as he doesn’t want the hassle, doesn’t want to fall foul to any rules and is happy as he is - which I can understand but seems a shame.