Dad wants to buy Mum out of her share of the house, solicitor says no!

catfish50

AL2009 wrote: »

There maybe few options open to you depending on (as mentioned above) parents assets/ pensions and depending on father's age and property value, Equity Release maybe an option.

It would be wise to see a adviser about this one as without seeing the full picture 'poor' suggestion maybe given which could be costly in the long run. Also maybe worth considering IHT planing at this stage.......

The OP has said that his mother saw a solicitor, but apparently the family doesn't like the solicitor's advice. It does sound to me as if the solicitor is right. If she moved out but didn't get divorced, she might be left in a difficult position if her husband didn't keep up the agreed payments.

Inheritance planning sounds like an unnecessary complication at this point. I would have thought it would be better for them to figure out how to disentangle their assets and then they would be in a better position to be able to make their own separate decisions about inheritance planning, health care, etc. But IANAL, as they used to say on Usenet.

catfish50

stanleymog wrote: »

So we have come up with the idea that my dad pays my mum a set amount each month to buy her out off her share of the property which we thought would be simple, but no, as my mum went to see her solicitor to get an agreement written up and he told her it cannot be done and they will have to get divorced (which neither of them want due to their age)!!!

Does anyone have any advice on how we can proceed with this as basically at the end of the day it's a loan between two people!

But the fact that the two people are married to each other might make it hard to enforce? Maybe that's why your mum's solicitor said they would have to get divorced.

If a divorce would enable an enforceable contract to be drawn up, it might be the simplest and cheapest solution.

Fiddlestick

catfish50 wrote: »

The OP has said that his mother saw a solicitor, but apparently the family doesn't like the solicitor's advice. It does sound to me as if the solicitor is right. If she moved out but didn't get divorced, she might be left in a difficult position if her husband didn't keep up the agreed payments.

What is their big objection to just getting divorced?

If they are fairly amicable about things (and it seems that way so far) and there are no young children to complicate things, they could get a divorce wound up and finalised fairly swiftly.

stanleymog

Thank you for the replies so far.

I will try and answer some of the questions that have been put forward.

Equity Release maybe an option

This has been looked into and my dad has been refused it, although one company did say we take the house off you and you can live there rent free, this was also declined!

What is their big objection to just getting divorced?

They are both nearly 70 and they do not see the point. They are not looking at having new partners or remarrying, they just cannot live together.

Inheritance planning

We (my sister and I) are interested in this as we are trying to help our parents, there needs are at the forefront, to be honest we haven't even thought about what we would gain/loose in this.

If I have missed out any answers then I do apologies.

I think the best option at the minute is to get a second opinion from another solicitor then go from there.

CLAPTON

if your parents are only 70 then they can easily live for another 25-30 years.

it would be much much better if there was a clean break with equal division of both income and assets.

whether or not they plan to find new partners is not really relevant; who knows who they will meet or what opportunities life will throw up

from what you say, you seem very influenced by what your father wants or doen't want: even more reason why your mother's interests need to be protected
the solicitor seems to be doing a very good job.

stanleymog

CLAPTON wrote: »

from what you say, you seem very influenced by what your father wants or doen't want: even more reason why your mother's interests need to be protected
the solicitor seems to be doing a very good job.

I'm sorry but this is far from the truth, it is a decision that both my parents are happy with and want to try and proceed with as it suits them both, so we are trying our hardest to find a solution to this for both of them.

At the end of the day, my mum wishes to move out to a flat, my dad wishes to stay in the house, this suits them both but the 'law' as it seems at the moment is preventing them from doing so.

CLAPTON

stanleymog wrote: »

I'm sorry but this is far from the truth, it is a decision that both my parents are happy with and want to try and proceed with as it suits them both, so we are trying our hardest to find a solution to this for both of them.

At the end of the day, my mum wishes to move out to a flat, my dad wishes to stay in the house, this suits them both but the 'law' as it seems at the moment is preventing them from doing so.

Of course the law isn't stopping them do anything they want.

The Solicitor is trying to protect your mother's interest.
The fact that at the moment they may agree, I'm sure the solicitor has seen many many situations where time changes things

let me ask you
has the basis of the discussion between your parents been based on the simple principle that each would end up with equal assets and each would end up with equal income?

stanleymog

CLAPTON wrote: »

let me ask you
has the basis of the discussion between your parents been based on the simple principle that each would end up with equal assets and each would end up with equal income?

Yes and No, my mum inherited money from my Nan which my dad is aware of and so is the solicitor and they have both agreed (mum and dad) that my dad keeps his pension (not a vast amount) and my mum keeps the inheritance.

margaretclare

'They are both nearly 70 and don't see the point (of getting divorced)'.

I am constantly being amazed by posts I come across on this site which seem to be saying that life is over in your 60s/70s and therefore either 'we're too old to do....(whatever)' or 'there is no point'.

Have they not heard of the increasing number of what are called 'Saga divorces' i.e. divorces in the post-retirement age-groups?

My DH was divorced for the second time in his mid-60s, and remarried. For a long time he 'didn't see the point of remarriage' but not for the reasons given above. Eventually he did see the point of it!!

As has already been pointed out, your parents can easily live a long time yet. Therefore, there is every point!

KiKi

I agree that there may be every point.

However, the OP's parents don't want it, have refused it, and - it appears - aren't going to contemplate it, so although I can see why people would put this argument forward, the OP needs solutions that don't involve divorce (unless, of course, there aren't any!). In addition, divorce is a massive decision when you've known nothing other than marriage your whole life, which may be the scenario here. It has moral implications for some people, and maybe the OP's parents don't even really want to separate their lives - maybe they just don't want to live with each other.

My point is that it's not just a practical issue: it's an emotional one, a moral one, and a psychological one for many people. Divorcing just to protect the finances of OP's mum may not be appropriate.

Unfortunately I'm not in a position to make any suggestions as I have no idea about this area, but just had to defend the OP on that point!

KiKi