Non-contributory state pension entitlement after large inheritance

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michaeltierney4

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Hi folks, I am wondering if anyone can help me with a state pension question. I currently receive a non-contributory state pension. My mother died and left me part of her estate which turned out be worth around €300k to me personally. I am 71, own my own house and am comfortable with my state pension and medical card. This now puts it all in jeopardy. I plan on leaving this money to my children in my will. So, what I want to know is...

If I divide this money and give it to my 4 children now (which leaves me with my previous €20k in savings), can I legally continue to collect my non contributory state pension and keep my medical card?

I have some medical issues and I use my card a lot. If I lost it, I dont have health insurance and given the nature of my health problems, I assume the premiums for it would be very high.
 
If you are in receipt of a “means tested” benefit, then you are required to notify DEASP if your financial circumstances change, such as an inheritance. I suggest you consult with your local Citizens Information office and they can advise you on the likely impact of the inheritance on your Non Contributory Oension.
 
michaeltierney4 said:
I have some medical issues and I use my card a lot. If I lost it, I dont have health insurance and given the nature of my health problems, I assume the premiums for it would be very high.
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Health ins premium are not like car ins - they are the same for everybody.

They are community-rated, not individually-rated.

What would happen is that pre-existing conditions would not be covered for a while = waiting period.
 
The over 70s medical card means test is mainly based on income, not wealth.

Look it up.
 
Protocol said:
Look it up.
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I think the reason the OP came to this fantastic site is to get jargon-free advice and opinions rather than trawling through pages of official websites that sometimes do not explain things in a language the average person can comprehend.
My parents are a similar age to the OP and come to me rather than looking it up.
I then either look it up or come to AAM.
 
Protocol said:
The over 70s medical card means test is mainly based on income, not wealth.

Look it up.
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It looks like you cant have more than €36k judging by what I read here:

I posted the wrong link here earlier, the over 70s medical card means test is different...

Over 70s means test for medical cards

How your income is assessed for the medical card income limits if you are over 70 years of age.
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie
 
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Thats not correct, the first €36 k for a single person or the first €72 k fora couple is “disregarded”, they ad a notional weekly income amount, for amounts above those limits.

So, if one was single and had €100k in a bank account, 36k is disregarded, and a notional amount of weekly income is applied to the balance of €64k as per the figues here:

Under 70s means test for medical card and GP visit card

How your income is assessed for the medical card and GP visit card if you are under 70 years of age.
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie

But i notice, you can also use interest certificates for the deposits, which may well be lower that the above method.

“You can request the actual rate of interest from savings and investments to be taken into account if you provide certificates of interest.“

I’d recommend contacting Citizens Advice for more details and guidance
 
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I called Citizens Advice and explained the situation. They said that the medical card for an over 70 should be fine. As long as your assets don't generate an income(or interest) of over roughly €500 per week, then you should be fine.

They also said that you cant deprive yourself of assets (give assets away) in order to qualify for a social welfare payment (non-contributory pension in my case). They pointed me to this:

Operational Guidelines: Means Assessment

www.gov.ie www.gov.ie

So it would seem that, if I gave this money away now to my kids, I would still be assessed as if I didnt and would loose my pension. But I probably can keep my medical card.
 
It clearly says:

Where it appears that a claimant has either directly or indirectly deprived himself/herself of any income or property in order to qualify for a payment, or to qualify for a payment at a higher rate, the income or the yearly value of the property must be assessed as means against the claimant.
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This clearly says "income or property", and not cash, which is what you have.

My reading is that you can give your kids a gift of the cash without it impacting your pension. This will count against their lifetime inheritence tax threshold of €335k each but unless you have a very valuable house this won't matter once it's split four ways.

Another option is to buy a bigger house, or renovate your current house. You could also buy a new car to do you a decade or more. Neither your own house or a car counts as means.

You can also do some combination of the above.
 
If you read the Introduction to the “Operational Guidelines” (post 11 above) you will see that for a means tested Non Contributory State Pension, the Department attributes a “notional income” to any property (including Cash) that you acquire subsequent to getting the Non Contributory Pension (I don’t think NoRegretsCoyote is correct in the above post). Equally, giving away some of the Cash (or buying a top of the range Mercedes) does not change the fact that your financial situation changed as a result of the inheritance.
Whilst the first €20,000 of any Cash is disregarded, any other Cash or Assets are taken into account. As I suggested earlier, arrange an appointment with your Local Citizens Information office to get advice.
 
Conan said:
If you read the Introduction to the “Operational Guidelines” (post 11 above) you will see that for a means tested Non Contributory State Pension, the Department attributes a “notional income” to any property (including Cash) that you acquire subsequent to getting the Non Contributory Pension (I don’t think NoRegretsCoyote is correct in the above post).
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Where does it say this? The term "notional income" does not appear in the operational guidelines.
 
If you lose your medical card you would still be entitled to public healthcare. The means testing for the GP card is quite generous ( only interest on your savings would be counted) and the charges for patients without a medical card, availing of public healthcare are still below the cost of private insurance. There is no exclusion based on pre-existing conditions. Public healthcare is available to all EU citizens resident in Ireland.
 
I would advise you to advise the Department as soon as possible because when you pass on any overpayment you have received has to be repaid to the department. It would be better to be upfront with them rather than having your family pay back.
 
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