Frequently Asked Questions

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My client has spent some of their capital, should I treat them as still having it for means-testing purposes?

Across all means-testing there is a rule that people can be treated as having "voluntarily deprived themselves of resources" if they have disposed of capital which was available to them. This rule can only be applied where:

1. As a matter of fact, capital has actually been disposed of
2. As a matter of opinion, their reason for doing so (or one of their reasons for doing so) was to gain a means-tested entitlement they would not otherwise have had, or to increase their entitlement to means-tested benefits and grants. This does involve making a judgement as to what was in the client's mind at the time of the deprivation of resources.

For more detail, see here.