Buying Grandmothers house

BQM

Hi!
Ive searched through the forums and found a couple of similar posts but I need to ask some specific Qs regarding my situation.
Any help would be appreciated as I cant seem to get much sense out of my nans solicitor!

Ok , So my 92yr old Grandmother brought me up after my mum died when my sister and I were younger. My Grandad died about 6yrs ago and my Nans will states my sister and I are to recieve 50/50 of her assets when she passes.

She was diagnosed with Alzeimers in Oct'12 and my partner and I decided we were going to sell my house and put an offer in on a house a few doors away from her so we could care for her. Unfortunately , after we had accepted an offer on my house , the house we wanted to buy fell through as they dropped out , then accepted someone elses offer!
Then my Grandmother got admitted to hospital in Dec'12 and has been there eversince. I found out I was pregnant Christmas time and have been staying between hers and mine as im worried about security of unoccupied properties. When the house originally fell through I decided I would move in with her , but obviously now with a baby on the way it would be ideal.
Since then though it has become apparent that she will have to move into a nursing home . She qualifies for NHS continuing healthcare and is due to move into the home next week.
My partner and I would like to look into buying her house off her, as we need a place and we would like to keep it in the family.
1) Can I buy her property if I have POA?
2) Can she sell it to us for a discounted price?
3) Would we be able to purchase it for 50% of the market value ? (ie, what we would have to do to give my sister her half if post death)
4) Could my Grandmother give my sister the money she recieves from the sale? (eg 65k - approx halve of the market value)

I can not seem to get any black and white answers from her solicitor , and do not want to do anything illegal , BUT obviously I dont want to be putting myself out of pocket if theres no need to. My Grandmother just wants me and my partner to bring our baby up in her house , and for my sister to have her share also

BQM

Sorry I meant , WOULDNT be ideal with a new born baby .

Also , my house is about to complete , so I will have to move into hers in a few weeks anyway! :S

BitterAndTwisted

BQM wrote: »

Hi!

She was diagnosed with Alzeimers in Oct'12

1) Can I buy her property if I have POA?

Do you already have POA? It's not possible to apply for it once someone has already lost capacity. This is something which is put in place to protect their interests when still have the capacity to make that decision.

2) Can she sell it to us for a discounted price?

If you don't have POA already, then no. She doesn't have the capacity to make an informed decision if her mind is impaired.

3) Would we be able to purchase it for 50% of the market value ? (ie, what we would have to do to give my sister her half if post death).

Not if you don't have POA in place.


4) Could my Grandmother give my sister the money she receives from the sale? (eg 65k - approx halve of the market value).

Not if you don't have POA in place.

I can not seem to get any black and white answers from her solicitor , and do not want to do anything illegal , BUT obviously I dont want to be putting myself out of pocket if theres no need to. My Grandmother just wants me and my partner to bring our baby up in her house , and for my sister to have her share also

.

In which case you need to answer whether there's a POA in place or not.

Mojisola

BQM wrote: »

1) Can I buy her property if I have POA?
2) Can she sell it to us for a discounted price?

If you have POA, you legally have to act in your grandmother's best interest. How can you justify that it is in her interest to sell her house at a discount?

pmlindyloo

First of all I think that what you do may be governed by what kind of Power of Attorney that you have.

There is some useful information here:
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Information-guides/AgeUKIG21_Powers_of_attorney_inf.pdf?dtrk=true

The second point is I am not sure whether buying her house is sensible financially. If your sister is entitled to 50% of the house then she should, in theory, be given 50% of the house (at market value) when she dies.

What are your sister's views on this?

I am not an expert on this by any means. You could call Age Concern and put the scenario to them.

At the moment I think much depends on what kind of Power of attorney that you have.

BQM

My sister and I have joint POA for financial matters.
My sister wants me and my partner to buy Nans house and live there so it is kept in the family (my Grandad built it and our mum grew up there)
Im prepared to buy it for market value as if it were any house , but Nan did say what is the point of getting a higher mortgage than necessary when she wants us to have it anyway.

BitterAndTwisted

You cannot sell to anyone, not even yourself, for less than the true market-value. It doesn't really matter what granny wanted or wants now. You have a legal duty to act in the best interests of Granny, not yourself or sister.

BQM

Yes we have POA

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

.

In which case you need to answer whether there's a POA in place or not.

ValHaller

BQM wrote: »

H
1) Can I buy her property if I have POA?
2) Can she sell it to us for a discounted price?

1) It has to be in your grandmother's best interests. If you were selling on her behalf to anyone non connected, there would not be an issue. As you are selling to yourself, you will have to jump through hoops at least to prove that you were getting best value.

You would firstly need to justify the decision to sell as being in her best interests. If the decision passed that test, you would be committed to sell. You would perhaps have to put it on the open market and be prepared to sell to anyone who might outbid you.

If you won't do this and you want the house, leave it alone until she's gone

2) Discounting to yourself is very bad idea. It will make you very vulnerable to criticism and perhaps prosecution. Particularly if your sister feels you have swindled her and decides to report you

The professionals will not tell you that you cannot sell to yourself, because you can. But they will not give you a clear answer that you can - or even really acknowledge your question, because the fact that you are proposing 2) means that you are very close to the point where you should be reported to the Court of Protection.

About all you could possibly do legitimately is rent the place to yourself at a low market rent.

BQM

I hope I havent suggested my intentions are anything BUT in her best interests!?
Her health and welfare have been our top priority through all of this , and now we have to address the financial matters once she is settled into the home.

The house can not be left empty , we are not being forced to sell it for her care. I need to buy a property, so makes sense to buy hers.

I just want to do it legally and fairly without burdaning myself with a larger mortgage than necessary .

BitterAnedTwisted wrote: »

You cannot sell to anyone, not even yourself, for less than the true market-value. It doesn't really matter what granny wanted or wants now. You have a legal duty to act in the best interests of Granny, not yourself or sister.

pmlindyloo

BQM wrote: »

Yes we have POA

You need to check with the link I gave you about the kind of power of attorney that you have.