ILR questions Set(M) income

Hi,
I would be grateful if anyone could advise me in the following:
It is time to apply for ILR by using Set(M) Financial Requirements section.
I have annual income (salary) of £28k for the last 3 years with the sane employer(can provide all supporting documents) but my husband/sponsor is receiving benefits (carer allowance, universal credit, including housing benefit), and has been receiving benefits starting before my entry visa.
In the set (M) it is asking do you or your sponsor receive benefits? I believe I have to answer yes, but then it says go to section 8B which is Adequate Maintenance section instead of continuing filling normal salary income information.
My question is can I answer yes and fill my employment information, as my income meets minimum requirements of 18k and do not complete Adequate Maintaince section at all. The reason is it will make things much more complicated for us, as we will have to show prove all benefits by providing bank statements and also show our expenses, which I would prefer to avoid.
My lawyer advised to prepare an explanation letter to the officer as a part of the application asking to consider application by using employment income but not adequate maintenance, which I think is sensible idea, but I’m worried about not filling section 8B at all even if I provide all my employment income details.
Can anyone advise on this please.
Thank you.

This is a common source of confusion while filling the online forms. Often the questions on the form are not True or False questions. The form is not asking for full disclosure. The answers to those specifically designed questions are used to automatically assess which qualifying path you are going to apply. This process is not perfect, hence the confusion.

Answer NO to the benefits question. If you answer Yes the form assumes you are trying to qualify under adequate maintenance. The fact that your spouse is getting benefits has no relevance in your case