Q Two years ago, my father, now 85, assigned the house he lives in over to his family. He is on Income Support (IS) and is contemplating a move to council-run sheltered accommodation. What rent will he be required to pay?

A If he continues to be entitled to IS, he will get Housing Benefit (HB) to cover his basic rent. However, if the benefit authorities think he signed the house over to gain a benefit advantage, they will treat him as still owning it. This will mean he loses both IS and HB.

Q At 61, I am thinking of retiring on a private pension of £346 a month. My wife and I own our home and would have no other income except savings of £2,750. What financial assistance might we expect?

A Minimum Income Guarantee of £70.22 a week plus full council tax benefit.

Q My mother, aged 79, has gone into sheltered accommodation where rent is £288.50 and council tax is £62.50, both monthly. She has BT pension of £290.11 a month and state pension of £395.72 a month as well as Attendance Allowance (AA). Can she get help with her expenses?

A As she lives alone and gets AA, her help with rent and council tax will be calculated using more generous rules if no one gets Invalid Care Allowance for looking after her. This would mean council tax benefit of about £7 a week and Housing Benefit that would reduce her basic rent to about £190 a month.

Q My council overpaid me Housing Benefit because they incorrectly included service charges that they now say I should pay myself. They now want me to repay the overpayment. Can they do this?

A I would not have thought so. They can only recover overpayments caused by "official error" if you should have realised you were being overpaid. That is hardly the case here, so you should ask them for a review.

Q My wife only paid married woman's National Insurance but, as she was a high earner, she paid a lot. Can she get a state pension?

A No. It is full rate contributions only that count.