Signing over property

cinders2872

Hi, my dad wants to sign over his house to my sister and I. It's mortgage free. My sister lives in the house with him already with her son. He wants to sign it over to protect us from my brother who is already planning on how to spend his half of the inheritance. My father does have a will and has left nothing to him(he's his step son) but doesn't want my sister and I to have to fight him when my dad dies. Is it easy to sign it over and how will it work with my sister already living there?

getmore4less

You will need to get some real advice on this.

There are a number of issues, what immediately comes to mind

Protecting his rght to live there

Potential inheritance tax liabilities

Once dead capital gains tax on parts owned by those not living there

Deprivation of assets if future care required

How to own the place in case one/both of you pops your clogs.

All three of your wills would probably need rewriting.

Raggs_2

Make sure he writes that he is deliberately leaving the son out, and even better give reasons. This makes it far more watertight than just not mentioning the son at all, and far harder to challenge.

Currently investigating this myself (but for different reasons).

If you sign it over now, your sister will be in residence, so no CGT will be applied. You will have to pay capital gains tax on any increase in value (best get it valued when you sign it over I guess). Issues can then arise with either of you getting divorced (your partners can claim their share), or if you pass away and are married (your partner probably gets your entire share). There can be a lot of potential mess.