Care home payment

RetroGirl

Hi,
I have a bit of a unique case that I need help with.
My friends bought a house in their granddads name as he was 73. The house was left to them in his will.
He has been put in a care home by his daughter and obviously the council need money, and would normally take this from his savings, but his daughter has been spending the savings so the council are going for the house. Now the house was bought by my friends as an investment for the future and their granddad had lived there rent free until he was put in the care home.
What I need to know is can they stop the council taking the house as it belongs to them, even though it is in granddads name? Can the daughter spend his money when it should be used for his care? He is not of sound body and mind any more and his daughter and grandson (who bought the house) are trustees in his will.
Thanks for your help
Claire

Savvy_Sue

It would probably help if you said exactly who had bought the house, when, in what circumstances, and how, ie with a mortgage or whatever, because at the moment I'm not entirely clear. However ...

RetroGirl wrote: »

I have a bit of a unique case that I need help with.

Not unique, this is something which has been tried before, and your friends appear to have fallen foul of some of the pitfalls.

Was it, by any chance, a council house Granddad lived in, which he was entitled to buy for a discounted price?

RetroGirl wrote: »

My friends bought a house in their granddads name as he was 73. The house was left to them in his will.

the house is registered in granddad's name, and he's not dead yet. Legally it is his house.

RetroGirl wrote: »

He has been put in a care home by his daughter and obviously the council need money, and would normally take this from his savings, but his daughter has been spending the savings so the council are going for the house. Now the house was bought by my friends as an investment for the future and their granddad had lived there rent free until he was put in the care home.

The fact that Granddad wasn't paying rent again indicates that it was and remains his house. The council are therefore correct to 'go after it'.

RetroGirl wrote: »

What I need to know is can they stop the council taking the house as it belongs to them, even though it is in granddads name?

See above. Although actually, of course, the council won't take the house, however if the fees aren't paid they will put a charge against the house which will mean they'll get their money when the house is sold.

RetroGirl wrote: »

Can the daughter spend his money when it should be used for his care?

If it's his money, then no, she should not be doing so, however how is she able to access his savings? Did Granddad, by any chance, put his savings into a joint account so that his daughter could 'help' by withdrawing money when required? If so, it's as much her money as his, although the council would be entitled to investigate his expenditure in the past, and could argue that there's been intentional deprivation of assets.

Or did he grant Power of Attorney? In which case you could report her actions to the OPG.

You could also get advice on this from Action on Elder Abuse.

RetroGirl wrote: »

He is not of sound body and mind any more and his daughter and grandson (who bought the house) are trustees in his will.

What are they trustees of? Do you mean executors of his will? The will is irrelevant until he dies.

Another possible complication is the value of his estate, by the way. Since he wasn't paying rent, and the house was registered in his name, it will form part of his estate. If that pushes the estate over the limit for Inheritance Tax, then there's tax to pay.

Not a lot of help now, I realise, but it sounds as if your friends should have taken proper advice before going down this road.