Qualified Adult Pension Capital Means Test

B

Barrons

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I will qualify for the full state contributory pension when I reach 66 in December.
My wife has always been full time at home. She has no income in her own name.

My wife is hoping to qualify for the Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA). My question is regarding the Means Test based on Capital/Savings, as her Savings need to be less than 57,500 to qualify for the full IQA,

She has savings of 10,000 in her own name and we have a total of 60,000 in a joint current account. The Welfare site : "Where property is held jointly (e.g. by a couple), half the value of the asset is taken as belonging to each". That would mean she is assessed on 10,000+30,000 and is below the limit.

However, I read this on the Citizens Information site __

Assessment of capital for couples
"If you have a joint account with your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, legally the total amount in the account is owned by each of you. Therefore it could be assessed in full against each of you."

Now, I am worried, as we could do with the increase ( on top of my own Contributory pension) Do we need to spend 13,000 from this joint account over the next few months to get the 60,000 down to 47,000 ( then her total would be 10,000+47,000 = 57,000)

I would appreciate any information or advice. Thanks.
 
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Would setting up a new account in only your name and moving some of the joint account savings there solve this?
 
Thanks, ( I do have another account in my own name) but I do'nt think think so. When you apply for the Pension you have to include 6 months original Bank Statements for all your Spouse accounts and these are scrutinised, so any transfer would be queried.
Also, the Claim Form asks" If they sold or transferred any property or business in the last three years please give details in the box below and attach a copy of the deed of transfer: "
 
The Dept will attribute 50% of jointly held assets (excluding family home) to your spouse. So your original calculation is correct.
 
Thanks, Conan. Thats the way I read the calculation on the Welfare site.
Then I saw the piece on Citizens Information ( which, by the way, has a certain logic about it!) and that put the wind up me a bit.
 
That sounds almost like someone at Citizens Information thinking a little too hard about it.

i.e. the whole “joint tenants/tenants in common” argument
 
Just to let you know, my pension calculations have arrived from Sligo. As commented on above, only 50% of our joint account was assessed and my wife is getting the full Qualified Adult pension. Also, I only applied 2 weeks ago, so it was very swift and efficient.
Thanks for your helpful comments.
 
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