Selling 2nd home-financial advice needed

Jockthearab

Hi there,

I purchased my parents council house in 1992 for £10 500 on an interest only mortgage. I then took out a further advance of £3000 (repayment basis) to install double glazing. As I was living at home at the time, it was cheaper paying the mortgage than what I was paying board! It also gave my mum & dad rent free living.

My mum died in 1999, and last month Dad was placed in residential care (See 'Help re Elderly Parent, Scotland' thread in the Marriage, Relationship, Health, Babies & Family Forum) The Social Work consider this house to be an asset to my Dad, and instructed me to get a survey done, to determine how much his 'half' should be worth. At the moment he pays £170 per week (covered just,by his pension payments, but if his assets are >£19 000, he has to pay full care costs of over £600 per week until his savings fall below £19 000. I have managed to get a private sale (thus saving Estate Agents fees ) & accepted the offer of £55 000.

As I see it the breakdown will be:

House Sale £55 000
-Outstanding mortgage £11 800
-Solicitors fees £300 (approx?)

Leaving £42 900 to be split 50:50, i.e £21 450.

My questions are:

Can I claim back the £120 I paid for the survey from my dad's half?

Could the £3000 I took as an advance be claimed off my dad's half?

Can I claim back the costs of hiring a van etc to clear out the house?

How much CGT roughly will I have to pay (Basic rate taxpayer)?

I have a £42 500 interest only mortgage through Northern Rock(3 years capped , tied in until end April 2005) for my marital home with 18 years & 3 months to go. I'm thinking of using £18 000 from my 'share' to make an overpayment. Would it be wiser changing to a repayment method in May or keep making the same current payments on a lower mortgage debt?

I have already 'frozen' the endowment which is in my name only and which pays out in Feb 2007. I'm continuing to put the £48 I spent on this per month into my Savings Account. Should I open an ISA for this money instead?


Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to rip off my dad or the Social work. It seems unfair after paying this mortgage for 13 years (the Dss contributed approx £5 per week to the interest on my Dad's behalf) that half is now being considered as his asset because his name, my mother's & mine are named on the Title Deeds. At times, it has been very difficult financially,as I have a young family.

My Boss has offered me the services of his Accountant (he said he'll pick up the tab!!!!!!!) but I'd like to be far better informed before I do this.

Thanks for reading this far, hope you can advise further.