removing name from deeds

petewba

i bought my mothers house 5 years ago from the council. as she could possibly go into a nursing home soon how do i remove her name from the deeds, with her consent of course as she don`t want me to lose the house. we have been told if she goes into a home the house will be sold whether i like it or not. and the proceeds divided between us

Bossyboots

You have been misinformed. They cannot force you out of the house.

If you remove her name from the deeds, the council could still go after the house anyway (if they were entitled to, which they are not) as it will deemed a deliberate attempt to avoid care costs.

petewba

if they need the money for the care though where would it come from as i would still be in the house and i wouldnt want to sell it

Bossyboots

petewba wrote:

if they need the money for the care though where would it come from as i would still be in the house and i wouldnt want to sell it

Sorry, I had to nip off so my first reply wasn't as full as it could have been.

They will put a charge on the property to be paid back when the house is sold at some stage later on but of course they can only charge your mum's half of the property, not yours, unless they can prove that your ownership of half was an attempt to avoid fees in which case they will need to apply to the court for an order in that regard.

Changing the property to your sole name now, whilst simple enough to do, is unlikely to have the effect you wish as they will ask for proof of when the property was transferred.

sticher

You would need to look into this further but I saw a programme about this recently showing that the NHS had illegally forced people into selling their homes. If your mother needs medical care (as opposed to just social care), then you should not have to sell the house as the NHS has a duty to provide medical care free of charge.

Bossyboots

It if is medical care, that is true but if it a case of not being able to cope at home and needing 24 hours supervision but no nursing, then the fees fall to be paid by the person needing the care if they have resources available to them.

Debt_Free_Chick

petewba wrote:

i bought my mothers house 5 years ago from the council.

I don't understand why your mother's name is on the deeds. If you bought the house, then surely the deeds show that you are the owner.

A bit more information needed please .... especially, how did your mother's name end up on the deeds?

Is there a mortgage on the property? In whose name(s)?

homer_j_3

If the house is in your mothers name and she simply gifts you the house then there may be tax implications. Maybe one of the IFA's can throw any light on this as I recall 7 years as having a bearing on gifts?

Not sure about how they would deal with care costs but there may be more issues that you have to consider than just that of care costs

Robert_Sterling

Did you in fact provide [ or better still loan ] your mother with the money so that she was able to buy the house?
Is it the case that her name is on the deeds and yours is not?

petewba

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

I don't understand why your mother's name is on the deeds. If you bought the house, then surely the deeds show that you are the owner.

A bit more information needed please .... especially, how did your mother's name end up on the deeds?

Is there a mortgage on the property? In whose name(s)?

as i didnt live there when i bought the house my mother got the discount thats how i afforded the house.i bought it as an investment for me. we are now in the process of removing her name from the deeds