Funeral payment and deprivation of capital

Hello Mari,

This answer comes with the caveat which appears at the bottom of each of the mods’ posts – it is not legal advice and therefore you should satisfy yourself before relying on anything we say!

I have had a quick look at the Decision Makers Guide and could not see any specific reference to pre-paying for funeral expenses.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governm...e/932378/dmgch52.pdf

An elderly gentleman I know agreed with our particular local council that if he were to prepay his funeral expenses it would not impact on his entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support. He had good reason to want to be buried abroad so in this case it was a substantial sum and we were able to argue that it gave him considerable peace of mind to know that he was able to ensure that his wishes would be carried out.

Googling also revealed this case
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-threat...for-her-own-funeral/

However, I also found this link which says that for the purpose of UC ‘The value of a funeral plan contract is disregarded indefinitely. ‘Funeral plan contact’ means a contract where a person makes payments to secure the provision of a funeral and where the sole purpose of the plan is to provide for a funeral.

data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files...disregards_v11.0.pdf

However, I would also be interested in exploring the history of your back-pay. If this payment was as a result of an official error or an error on a point of law then any payments can be disregarded for the length of the claim or until the award ends.

I hope this helps, and please do come back to us if you have any more questions,
Catherine

Hi MariW

To be considered a savings scheme you have to be able to withdraw cash, as in bankruptcy funeral plans are ignored as an asset, see Catherine's links below.

Gary

Hi MariW

We cannot get into what if's, check out Catherine's post and the links, if you require additional information you should contact your local Welfare Rights Organisation, where you can ask specific questions.

You can find your local Welfare Rights Organisation to help you with benefit advice by clicking on the link below and putting in your post code, it will then come up with a MAP with a list of agencies. advicelocal.uk

Gary