Changing name on property deeds.

buryblue

Hi from newbie, apologise if this is not in the correct spot.
7 years ago my wife and i bought my mums and dads council house for them ( borrowed the money on my house ).We do not get any rent from them.For the past few years i have been saying i will get round and transfer the title deed name from my fathers to my youngest daughter ( 22 years old ).My parents are both in there late 70s and health wise not the best.Can anybody give me an idea of price on the change of name ?,and also any other info regarding to covering ourselves if my parents became very ill or died ?( tax wise ).Regards

dzug1

It's NOT just a change of name, it's a change of ownership. You cannot change the deeds - your father has to do that. (OK you can do the work but he's the one who will have to sign). Costs will be on the Land Registry web site - not that much IIRC. Well under £100.

What it comes to is a gift from your father to his granddaughter:

its value will be a gift for IHT purposes, with tax (possibly) due if he dies within 7 years, depending on the total value of his estate at the time of his death

its disposal will be regarded as deliberate disposal of assets by a Local Authority should he go into care and require subsidised fees. They have the power to require the gift to be reversed if the fees cannot be paid any other way

Be_Happy

Things may be different in other parts of the country, but from my time as a CAB volunteer this has been a common query and is a 'can of worms'.

As I understand it, only the tenant can buy the house, not their relatives, so it could be that you gave your father money to buy, but he is still the legal owner. The local authority could place a charge on the house if one of your parents went into care and force the sale of the house when the remaining parent died. If your father signs over the house to you, this would count as 'deprivation of assets' and the council could still claim from the sale.

As I said there can be complications, you will have to find out who legally owns the house at present.

(Sorry dzug1, our posts have crossed)

buryblue

Hi ,the 7 year rule i was aware of ,the money i got to buy the house was not a loan to them,i just wanted them to have a better standard of living because they don't get a lot of pension.I was thinking what are the possibilities of naming my daughter as living there as a carer and maybe backtracking the date !!!.God forbid if anything happens to my parents but i am just trying to find the best way of getting out of paying tax to His Majesties

RayWolfe

What, by fraud?
Not what this website is about.

Mojisola

buryblue wrote: »

Hi ,the 7 year rule i was aware of ,the money i got to buy the house was not a loan to them,i just wanted them to have a better standard of living because they don't get a lot of pension.

If not a loan, was it a gift to them? If it's still "your money" in your mind, then it was a loan.

Whose names are on the deeds? If it's your parents' names - and I'm sure only the tenants could buy the house so they should be - then to secure your investment you need to have a loan arrangement with them.

If you don't want to do that it's worth looking at the type of ownership. If your parents are joint tenants, then it would be worth them changing it so that they become tenants in common. They can then leave their half of the house in their will to whoever they want. That would protect at least half of the value of the house.

Please don't try to do anything fraudulently!

Johnhowell

buryblue wrote: »

Hi ,the 7 year rule i was aware of ,the money i got to buy the house was not a loan to them,i just wanted them to have a better standard of living because they don't get a lot of pension.I was thinking what are the possibilities of naming my daughter as living there as a carer and maybe backtracking the date !!!.God forbid if anything happens to my parents but i am just trying to find the best way of getting out of paying tax to His Majesties

When did the Queen die?

;-)
John