buying a house in joint names

Old_Git

an elderly relative and I are considering buying a house for both off us to live in .
My relative has first stage dementia . No medication ,and lives on her own.
We have considered sheltered housing ,but she was allocated 16 points so I cant see anything happening there .
I have seen a house that may be suitable ,but what are the implications if
she has to go into a home at a later stage ,as I dont want to end up homeless . My relative owns her house outright .

WillowCat

I'm no legal expert, but I think if you buy the house together as "tenants in common" rather than the more usual "joint tenants" then you can allocate the ownership of the house in proportion to the money you have each put in.

If she needs to go into a home a charge can be put onto her portion of the house with the land registry, but your portion is safe. I think it would only need repaying when if the house is eventually sold, I don't think anyone could force you to sell it.

That way your proportion is always safe.

pollypenny

I am pretty sure that Willowcat is correct. However, buying a house with anyone is a big step, and commitment. You should take legal advice.

Savvy_Sue

I think it also makes a difference if the 'other' person left in the house is over - 65? not sure: if you give us at least a ball park figure of your age and her age it might help.

Counsel and Care, Age UK: you should get some information from there. I would suggest you also need to consider whether your relative will give you Power of Attorney now, while they are 'competent' to do so (assuming they are): dementia can deteriorate suddenly and it's much harder to get it at that stage. It wouldn't hurt for you to do the same, so that if you fall under a bus there is someone to take care of things.

Old_Git

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I think it also makes a difference if the 'other' person left in the house is over - 65? not sure: if you give us at least a ball park figure of your age and her age it might help.

49 & 79

monkeyspanner

I think you would be wise to get specialist legal advice. There are a couple of cosiderations here, IHT and what would happen if your relative needed a care home placement.

You need to compare the advantages and disadvantages of buying the house as joint owners or tenants in common for both these circumstances.

If your relative needed a care home placement it is generally said tenants in common provides more protection but you would need to check this with a solicitor who is a specialist. The value of the house would be disregarded if the remaining partner or close relative in the house is 60 or over or in some circumstances the relative has a disability (in receipt of a disability benefit). Close relative here means child or step-child, sibling or step-sibling, granparent or granchild, uncle,aunt, nephew, neice, or partner of any of these.

For lots more detail see this fact sheet
http://www.counselandcare.org.uk/category/advice/pdf/care-home-fees---paying-them-in-england-guide-16

Errata

Assuming that the relative pays, say, 90% of the purchase price and owns it as a tenant in common holding, say, 10% of the equity it may be considered Deprivation of Assets. Please research as much as you can before starting to look at properties.

Savvy_Sue

the other thing to research is how your relative's dementia may develop, and whether the house would remain suitable for you alone if they did need a care home, and is that what you'd want? that transition to needing care can be very sudden and very stressful.

I guess my final what if would be what if you find a Significant Other? 49 is no age at all, I have a friend who married for the first time at 70! If buying a house together is not the best option for both of you, tread carefully.

Oldernotwiser

Will the pair of you be contributing equally to the purchase?

WillowCat

Errata wrote: »

Assuming that the relative pays, say, 90% of the purchase price and owns it as a tenant in common holding, say, 10% of the equity it may be considered Deprivation of Assets. Please research as much as you can before starting to look at properties.

I would expect that if the relative pays 90% of the purchase price then they would also have 90% of the equity - not 10%. In that scenario it is then 10% that the OP would hold which would need protecting.