For people on Disability Allowance, getting an inheritance is not the good news it can be for others. Photograph: iStock

My parents are both in their 70s and in good health, and are writing their will at the moment. I have a sister and a brother. My parents plan on leaving the house to each other if one dies and then to us three children.

There is an issue: I’m on Disability Allowance, a means-tested benefit. The max in savings I can have is €50,000.

I will have a State contributory pension as I already have enough stamps to secure a minimum pension and I am working on building that up. There is no means test for the contributory pension, so if I inherit after 66 years old this doesn’t matter.

The estate is a house that may be worth around €600,000. If divided by the three of us, there’s €200,000 each.

My question is, if they die before I’m 66, is there a way to put that money out of my and the State’s reach, so it won’t impact my disability allowance, by putting it into a pension? I set up a pension plan this year.

There is a suggestion that, to protect my benefits, the estate be left to my brother and sister and that they set up a joint bank account in their names so I could use the bank card for my personal use.

I’m not comfortable with that for multiple reasons. I want to have autonomy and be tax compliant, etc. I also want to avoid the route of setting up a trust.

If I inherit €200,000, I can legally have savings of €50,000 without it impacting my disability allowance. What can I do legally to that money – the €150,000 extra – to put it out of my reach and protect my disability allowance? Can I put it into my pension without any penalties?

I’ve been to a solicitor and financial adviser and, frustratingly, haven’t gotten any clarity on this matter.

Ms P.H.

Sometimes you wonder what certain people are charging for. You have done precisely the right thing, sought advice from the right people – a solicitor and a financial adviser – and they’ve given