care home fees.

sandraroffey

i have seen that i should have put my question on this forum. have also put it on the returement forum as well. doh!!!!

can someone please answer me this question??

my sister has just told me that she and her husband have each willed their half of the house to their children so that should the worse happen and they have to go into a care home, the house cant be counted when it comes to paying for care home fees.

i thought that if the you own the property, its an assett no matter who it is willed to. and there fore can be counted.

any one clear this up please.

McKneff

This can only be done if they are tennants in common, so that each of them owns half a house, as opposed to joint tennants who own the whole house between them.

The first person dies, the deceased wills their half of the house to the children, the house cant be sold if the survivor only owns half a house, but you have to remember that if the survivor has to have after care, the council can put a charge on the house and claim that charge after the second person dies and the house is sold. That is my understanding of it anyway.

Biggles

That only has any effect if one spouse dies while the other is already in care (and, as McKneff says, if they own as 'tenants in common').

As long as the first spouse is living, and remaining in the house, it can't be touched for the fees assessment.

pollypenny

It has to be done via a trust, I think. You need to consult a solicitor.

Biggles

pollypenny wrote: »

It has to be done via a trust, I think. You need to consult a solicitor.

I'm pretty sure all that the change to 'Tenants in common' just needs the appropriate form sending to the Land Registry. Someone like Age UK would be a good place to make an enquiry without incuriing any cost.

As far as changing the will is concerned, they already seem to have done that.

Jake'sGran

I spoke to our solicitor about making us "Tenants in Common" for the house and he read out, over the phone, the words I would need to use for the declarations. I printed them out and signed them appropriately and they are now attached to our wills.

I do remember being told that it depends on the age of the house when it comes to the Land Registry involvement.

Biggles

Jake'sGran wrote: »

I do remember being told that it depends on the age of the house when it comes to the Land Registry involvement.

Rather than the age of the house, it depends on how long it has been since it last changed hands (or was remortgaged). The reason is that the operative date on which lodging them with the Land Registry on such a change became compulsory varied from one local council area to another.

Cranny44

Biggles wrote: »

Rather than the age of the house, it depends on how long it has been since it last changed hands (or was remortgaged). The reason is that the operative date on which lodging them with the Land Registry on such a change became compulsory varied from one local council area to another.

As far as i am aware (my council included and the area i work in charging peeps fpr care homes and home care) there is no time limit and can go far back as they like, they just have to prove it was done to avoid care home fees

Biggles

Cranny44 wrote: »

As far as i am aware (my council included and the area i work in charging peeps fpr care homes and home care) there is no time limit and can go far back as they like, they just have to prove it was done to avoid care home fees

We weren't discussing deprivation of assets, it was about changing the tenure of houses, and at what point house documents became held by the Land Registry instead of being deeds held by the owner.

doggybuster

We have recently changed our wills and were advised by the writer to change from 'joint tenants' to 'tenants in common'. Fair enough. It cost £195 to write wills, and he wanted to charge £500 to change from 'joint' to 'common'. Any ideas how much it should be?

tanith

OH and I changed from joint tenants to tenants in common a few months ago, I downloaded the form SEV from the Land Registry site we signed it sent it off , the relevant paperwork came back in 4 days and it didn't cost a penny.