can my mum give me her house?

rawpowerocks

Can anyone help me.
I am not sure if I have listed this in the correct place on the forum. I have looked around the internet but the information I can find doesn't appear to be for the situation I am trying to find out about.

Me and my wife live in a one bedroom rented property and we are expecting a child so ideally we need to move to a two bedroom place.

We can't afford to rent a two bedroom place in our area and we don't have any money for a deposit to buy a place.

So my mum (on her own as my father passed away) 100% owns her 2 bedroom house.
She has no mortgage.

Can she sign over her house in to my name so I own it without having to buy it off her?

Then me and my wife would live in my mums two bedroom house and my mum would move out into the rented property we are in and we would pay her rent.

If anybody knows if this is possible and what kind of fees or taxes are envolved with doing this would be great if you can let me know.

ladymarmalade1970

No advice for you but what a lovely mum you have!

Londonsu

You dont say how old she is and the state of her health.

If she is elderly and may need residential care in the next few years, by giving you her home she and you could be accused by the council of deprivation of capital/assets and could be deemed as an attempt to get out of paying care home fees.

There are ways of getting round this if she has enough savings to pay for her care or if she lives a certain number of years after she gave you the house, but the council are like rottweilers when he comes to getting their pound of flesh.

I would take legal advise and also look at the info from age concern and ugov - sorry cant do links

scottishblondie

This would be pure insanity on your mother's part. She would have signed away her biggest asset without any recompense and would be relying on you to keep a roof over her head. What if you and your wife divorced, or you had no money to pay her rent? What if she had to go into care and the council discovered she had given away the house? (google "deprivation of assets") And this is before we even get to issues like IHT and stamp duty.

There are so many things that could go wrong with this scenario, any decent solicitor would likely try their best to convince your mother not to do this. I would suggest you abandon this plan entirely.

Here's a slightly safer suggestion for your mother. She could rent you the house for a reasonable sum, and use that money to pay her own rent elsewhere. Of course she would have to act as a proper LL, and comply with all relevant laws etc. But it would be a somewhat safer way for her to help you out, albeit with pitfalls of it's own.

rawpowerocks

ha ha thank you ladymarmalade1970.
Yes I have the best mum.
She is trying to think of ways that we can get a two bedroom place without upping our monthly out goings as money and space will be tight once we have the baby.
We are just unsure as to if she can just give me her house like this without paying major fees?

rawpowerocks

Londonsu my mum is in early 50's with no medical problems.

Scottishblondie my mum has her own savings to pay her rent if I did ever loose my job etc and was unable to pay the rent for her. I guess that is one of the risks in doing this if it happens. We are only in the very early stages in finding out the best way she can help us. We just really want to know about the taxes or fees envolved in this if it is a road we end up going down.

moneybunny123

Rather than her signing it over to you legally, why doesn't she "rent" it to you. What you pay her in rent for her house would then cover the rent she'd need to pay in living in your one bedroomed place. That way, if the worst should happen (as others pointed out above - i.e. divorce/illness/etc) she hasn't signed away her biggest asset.

2sides2everystory

I think your Mum is being very realistic in these times. Clearly the "deprivation of assets brigade" are barking up the wrong tree completely if she is in her fifties. And if she should need looking after in later life, I imagine yours is exactly the sort of unit which would rally round and provide support to seniors and elders as a matter of normal cultural upbringing. Similarly if you all became financially stressed and couldn't afford the rent on the second property, you sound the sort who would again sort it out as a family.

What you are describing is simply something that a well-balanced family might achieve as a unit whilst family members feel secure and trusting in their own company, and are still capable of making their own decisions and taking their own risks to help the next generation. People all over the world do it. It is lot more attractive than the typical everyman for himself or the 'wo betide you if you are trying to deprive the government of future clawback' attitudes of so many thesedays.

My simple understanding is that there no tax implications unless your mother dies within 7 years of the gift (inheritance tax issues), but I am sure some experts will contribute with some other considered pros and cons shortly.

paint

This is absolute insanity on the part of your Mother.

Why on earth would anybody give up their home, which they've worked all the life for, only to end up with no seurity of tenure in rented accommodation? If you can't afford a two bedroom place just now, then have the baby sleep in your room - it tends to be what a lot of folk do for a short time anyway.

Despite her offer, please don't deprive your mother of her security in her old age.

Tsmee

I think it's really nice of your mum to give up her two bedroom house for you and your family to live in, moving to a one-bed rented flat that you pick up the rent for. You get a two bed for the price of one bed, and your mum's happy to downsize, and possibly have to move at the whim of the landlord, to allow you to do that. Very, very generous of her.

What I don't get is why, on top of that, she would give you the house for nothing and leave herself in a really vulnerable position for the rest of her life. Or why you would let her to do it. Surely you could just use this as a temporary fix till you're more able to afford a two bed place yourselves?

Put it this way, assuming you and your wife eventually buy a house, would you just give it away for nothing in your fifties and go back to renting for the next thirty years or so?

I'm sure you want the best for your mum and vice-versa; my guess is that both sides haven't thought this through.

ariba10

There is no reason why she cannot give it to you if she wants to.

If she owns it outright, it is for her to do with as she likes.