Mother in law going into home, her house in husband's name

marfy

My mother-in-law is currently in hospital and will not be able to return home as she can no longer look after herself even with maximum care package.

Sixteen years ago she transferred her house to my husband's name with the proviso she could live in it as long as she wished.

She does have considerable savings and will therefore be paying care home fees for some time but when she reaches the threshhold will they assess her as still owning the home i.e. deliberately deprived herself of capital to avoid nursing home fees?

She lives in Scotland.

TonyMMM

Did she pay a market rent to your husband ?

If not, you need to look up "gift with reservation" ..... basically , they will treat the situaton as though she still owns the house.

What legal advice did she/he receive at the time of the transfer ?

getmore4less

Potential CTG bill when sold

(asuming you don't live there)

midnight_express

Why did she put the house in your husbands name ?

margaretclare

So who lives in the house? Just herself, or your husband as well?

There have been many threads asking the question 'how to put house into someone else's name to avoid it being taken for care fees'. Thousands if not millions of words have been written on the subject. AFAIK it's a lot different if someone else is living there, a spouse, a son/daughter over 60, a disabled person. The law is different in Scotland, you need to ask someone with knowledge of what is acceptable there. Try AgeScotland.

Many people seem to accept the idea that it's fine to transfer home ownership to a family member and continue to live there rent-free. It may not always be the case.

sleepless_saver

midnight_express wrote: »

Why did she put the house in your husbands name ?

This is the really important question, assuming she was living alone, as the local authority will look at intention.

Have a look at this link to Care Information Scotland which covers deprivation of capital.

I don't think anyone apart from the local authority will be able to give you a definitive answer on how they will regard her giving away the house. The rules leave a lot to their discretion and different authorities can and do take different approaches on this sort of issue.

marfy

Thanks for the replies.

She is unable to seek legal advice because of dementia, my husband has power of attorney for her. As we live in the south of England we can't see a solicitor in Scotland.

She lives in the house on her own, although she did share with her brother - he passed away a few years ago. It was he who did all the legal stuff and we have no idea how it was arranged. It was done after their mother died and the authorities took all her money to pay for care so it would be seen as being done to try and stop the house being taken as capital (assuming they can prove this after 16 years and with her not being able to understand questions they may ask).

No money has been paid to my husband.

zzzLazyDaisy

marfy wrote: »

It was done after their mother died and the authorities took all her money to pay for care so it would be seen as being done to try and stop the house being taken as capital (assuming they can prove this after 16 years and with her not being able to understand questions they may ask).

The authorities do not have to 'prove' anything - it is more a 'balance of probabilities'. If the evidence suggests that the reason the transfer was done was to avoid care home fees in the future, and neither she, nor your husband can give any other reason for it, then they will be entitled to draw this conclusion and proceed accordingly. There is no time limit on how far they can go back.

If your OH did not pay anything for the house, and as she has continued to live there without paying rent, then it seems a reasonable conclusion to draw. However, the house is in your OH's name and he doesn't live there, so if the house is sold to pay for fees, any increase in value will be subject to CGT if the profit is more than his annual CGT exemption. There are also potential IHT implications when she dies, depending on the size of the estate.

zzzLazyDaisy

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

The authorities do not have to 'prove' anything - it is more a 'balance of probabilities'. If the evidence suggests that the reason the transfer was done was to avoid care home fees in the future, and neither she, nor your husband can give any other reason for it, then they will be entitled to draw this conclusion and proceed accordingly. There is no time limit on how far they can go back.

If your OH did not pay anything for the house, and as she has continued to live there without paying rent, then it seems a reasonable conclusion to draw. However, the house is in your OH's name and he doesn't live there, so if the house is sold to pay for fees, any increase in value will be subject to CGT if the profit is more than his annual CGT exemption. There are also potential IHT implications when she dies, depending on the size of the estate.

EDIT - if the house is registered land, it is a very simple thing to check with the LR website to check the previous owners of the house and the transfer dates, so the authority will know very quickly that this has occured.

sleepless_saver

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

EDIT - if the house is registered land, it is a very simple thing to check with the LR website to check the previous owners of the house and the transfer dates, so the authority will know very quickly that this has occured.

This won't work if the house is in Scotland. Registers of Scotland would be the place to go.

OP, there is very little point spending money on seeking legal advice on this. They will not be able to add to the advice you have already got here. If the local authority does decide it's deprivation of capital, that would be the time to get legal advice.

margaretclare

I wouldn't worry too much until MIL looks like getting through her 'considerable savings'. She will still have the normal income that she gets now, retirement pension, AA at full rate (by definition) - it will all help to offset her costs. She won't be paying out for home maintenance, food, groceries, utilities, all the rest, and the home care package. One thing balances out another. The house will be empty so no council tax (I think).