Parents gifting money when they require care

EmmaLoveland

Hello, I'm new to the forum and not sure where to post, I was hoping someone could help.

My mother and father in law are in the process of selling their large family home to reallocate closer to myself and my husband. They plan to downsize and pay off their mortgage.

My mother in law is an MS sufferer and is wheelchair bound. She requires at home carers to call in 3 times a day, including getting her up and putting her to bed.

My father in law is in sound health and does not require care.

They have always said that they want to gives money for a deposit of our first house from their house sale, which we were so great full for as with a young childift feels an impossible task to be able to afford a deposit.

My mother and father in law are not trying to avoid paying for their care but theydo want to help us out also (we would not take all of the left over equity so they would still have some money to pay for care and obviously for them to live comfortably)

Is there anyway that anyone knows of how they can give us this money without being accused of avoiding costs for care?

It seems unfair that my father in law can not gift money that he has worked his whole life for due to his wives I'll health!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Emma

bigadaj

No o e can be sure, it will depend on the. Council and other factors. One thing for sure is that the closer to the time that care is needed then the more likely this will be considered to be deprivation of capital, so ideally you should get the money sooner rather than later.

dunstonh

Is there anyway that anyone knows of how they can give us this money without being accused of avoiding costs for care?

Depends on whether the amount is reasonable or not. e.g. if it was from savings that have been in place for a long time then it would be viewed better than say the money wasnt there until downsize occured. The latter could well be classed as deprivation of assets as the fact there were no savings present until then would suggest it was not a long term plan).

It seems unfair that my father in law can not gift money that he has worked his whole life for due to his wives I'll health!

Not really. People have rainy day funds to cover those rainy days.

Linton

As your parents are paying for their own care then there is no issue. The problems only arise when people give away their assets and then expect the tax-payer to pay the care bill.

If they can pay for their own care they will be able to ensure that they get the care they want provided to a standard with which they are happy, rather than having to accept what the local authority provides.

Mojisola

EmmaLoveland wrote: »

Hello, I'm new to the forum and not sure where to post, I was hoping someone could help.

My mother and father in law are in the process of selling their large family home to reallocate closer to myself and my husband. They plan to downsize and pay off their mortgage.

My mother in law is an MS sufferer and is wheelchair bound. She requires at home carers to call in 3 times a day, including getting her up and putting her to bed.

My father in law is in sound health and does not require care.

They have always said that they want to gives money for a deposit of our first house from their house sale, which we were so great full for as with a young childift feels an impossible task to be able to afford a deposit.

My mother and father in law are not trying to avoid paying for their care but theydo want to help us out also (we would not take all of the left over equity so they would still have some money to pay for care and obviously for them to live comfortably)

Are they paying for the care your MIL receives now? If they are getting help with that already then, if they give money away, they will be assessed as if they still have it.

Is there anyway that anyone knows of how they can give us this money without being accused of avoiding costs for care?

It seems unfair that my father in law can not gift money that he has worked his whole life for due to his wives I'll health!

Life isn't fair. There are a lot of people on these boards who haven't been able to work because of ill health and who consequently have had to manage on lower incomes and don't have money put away in pensions.

Why would if be fair for your FIL to give money to you and then claim for carers? You would have received an unearned lump sum and other taxpayers would be funding your MIL's care.

xylophone

Even after the gift your PILs would still have a house - if at some point your mother-in-law required to go into care and there was not enough cash to fund it, the local authority could take a lien on the half of the house owned by her? (I assume they own their property and will own their new property) as tenants -in-common?

At the worst, if your mil required care the house could not be sold while your FIL lived in it and the LA would simply take a lien on the whole of the house?

They are not trying to avoid care fees as they have more than a reasonable expectation of being self sufficient?

Your PILs should take professional advice from a solicitor.
http://www.primewills.co.uk/protect_home_against_care_fees.htm might be worth a read.

le_loup

EmmaLoveland wrote: »

It seems unfair that my father in law can not gift money that he has worked his whole life for

So this money from a house sale is money he worked his whole life for! I wonder what he paid and what he is getting? Fortunately there is no Capital Gains Tax on main residence in the UK - different in other counties. And unfair to whom? You, for example?
Seems your parents have done exactly the right thing in saving for their care in old age. Some have not been so fortunate.

Mojisola

xylophone wrote: »

Even after the gift your PILs would still have a house - if at some point your mother-in-law required to go into care and there was not enough cash to fund it, the local authority could take a lien on the half of the house owned by her? (I assume they own their property and will own their new property) as tenants -in-common?

At the worst, if your mil required care the house could not be sold while your FIL lived in it and the LA would simply take a lien on the whole of the house?

If one of a couple has to go into care and their spouse or civil partner will be staying in the family home, at the moment the house has to be disregarded when doing a financial assessment.

Usually, any capital the couple have will be considered to be owned 50/50.

bigadaj

if we did have capital gains on primary residences then maybe we wouldnt have had the ridiculous house price inflation of the past 15 years.

atush

I would think, as your FIL is of sound health, the he could gift you from the 50% of the money released as they downsize as it is his money. The other 50% would have to be saved in your MIL's name.

But I agree, that if possible, any gift should come from savings they had before the house downsize.

BristolBob

atush wrote: »

I would think, as your FIL is of sound health, the he could gift you from the 50% of the money released as they downsize as it is his money. The other 50% would have to be saved in your MIL's name.

If they owned the house as joint tenants (likely if married) then they both own 100% of the house jointly. They do not own particular 50% shares in it and so your suggested plan would not work.