I would be very grateful if any one could offer me some advice on the legality/ any implications for the following situation.

Mr H(83 yrs) and Mrs H (59 yrs)are in receipt of Mr H's RP, Pension credit + Carer premium, Carer Allowance and Mr receives low rate AA. Own their Band D property currently receiving full CTB.

Mrs H becomes 60 in July. Pension forecast offered pension of £111.35 per week. Has been offered choice to defer pension until 65.

If accepts pension joint income would be £214pw (excluding Mr H's AA). So therefore no PC guarantee and minimal assistance with CT.

Can Mrs H defer her pension until 65 and can they carry on receiving full help via Pc? If so, if Mr H was to pass on within the 5 yr period would she then be able to claim her pension?

Any help or alternative suggestion greatly welcome.
Many Thanks

If Mrs H chooses to defer her RP she simply does nothing ie not fill in the claim form for RP that will be sent to her. There is no requirement to inform DWP that she wishes to defer a claim. If she changes her mind she just needs to make a claim.
However, will they not treat any pension to which she would have been entitled as in her possession anyway?

Sadly yes. Here is an extract from the DMG...

"What is notional income
85400 A person may be treated as having an income that he does not actually have1. This type of income is known as notional income and may take different forms (1 SPC Act 02, s 15(6)(a)

Types of notional income
85401 Notional income may be attributed because of1
1. deprivation of income (DMG 85410 et seq)
2. RP income available but not applied for (DMG 85450 et seq) and
3. income for the claimant paid to a third party (DMG 85500 et seq).
(SPC Regs, reg 18)....

Treatment of notional income
85403 Calculate notional income in the same way that actual income is calculated in this Chapter. Any notional income should be added to any actual income. The total should then be taken into account using normal rules, including applying any appropriate disregard".

This seems to me to be a bit of an own goal. The Government is terrified of the prospect of not being able to pay the state pension bill, but by counting all deffered pension, there is little incentive to carry on working etc. Why not count 50% of it?

Steve