Council charge on property

Washerwoman

Hello there, I wondered if anyone can tell me what is the procedure regarding an inherited property which is subject to a council charge (specifically for recovery of care home fees). If the property is occupied by the beneficiary under a will, is the beneficiary forced to move out and sell the property?

DVardysShadow

Under the circumstances outlined, the property could not be transferred to the beneficiary by the executors. It falls to the executors to redeem the charge before transfer. And I suppose if the executors take too long, the council might come after them.

G_M

If the property is occupied by the beneficiary under a will,

Are you saying:

1) the beneficiary already lives there (ie used to share with the deceased? or live there while deceased was in car home)? In which case the property is alreadt th beneficiary's main/only residence. OR

2) after the death, the beneficiary thought "ah it's mine now" and moved in?

BigAunty

You might find a site such as Age UK provides fact sheets on this matter.

I wonder whether or not the beneficiary is a bit irrelevant - whether it might be more about the surviving joint owner being able to live there in the meantime but do browse the above website which will definately provide more info on care home fees, personal property and council charges on it. If a beneficiary of a property could live there in perpetuity then I can't see how a local council could ever recover their fees for the services they've provided.