Tenants in common

margaretclare

sloughflint wrote: »

Be careful saying this....
See what I wrote here ( post 2):
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=896563

Oooops. I was assuming that the first to die would leave his/her 100% to spouse - it would never cross my mind to do otherwise. It hadn't occurred to me that it could be left to other people in percentages. Sorry!

sloughflint

margaretclare wrote: »

It hadn't occurred to me that it could be left to other people in percentages. Sorry!

I didn't quite mean it like that either. What I meant was, if first spouse to die left something to someone else then the second spouse's NRB won't be quite double.

The percentages were really just used to explain the principle.

It would be up to the Executor of the second spouse to investigate the distribution of first spouse's assets and work out the proportion that had been left to the second spouse.

Clear records will need to be kept between deaths with this new setup. Easier if the executors are the same people for both spouses but that may not be the case always I suppose.

ellie33

my husband and I have done this and changed the house owenership from joint to tennants in common. The wills were updated and the children have power of attorney. Our solicitor charged us £140.

It has given us peace of mind to know that we might save half the house to leave to the children. We do not have much and our house is the only thing we can leave for our children to inherit.

a_trustee

I know this is an old thread but as a 25% trustee in my mothers house I have a very relevent question

What happens if she wants to move ?

She is currently in hospital and IMHO the property which is held in trust is now unsuitable for her (no downstairs toilet etc).

I would hate to think that the trust (in which my sister has the other 25%) would stop her moving into a more suitable property.

Savvy_Sue

welcome to the boards.

I think (but don't know for sure) that it depends on the terms of the trust, and you need to check that out.

dad left his half of the house to me and my siblings, but I think that if Mum wants to move the two trustees agree the sale with her (or not) and divvy up the value of half between all of us. I believe the trustees could stop mum selling, but not the beneficiaries who are not trustees.

GTG

My mother in law has talked to me and my wife and her sister and husband (a two daughter family) about changing the ownership of their home to tennants in common. Having read on this forum and elsewhere I'm thinking it may be better to go the whole hog and get some advice on setting up some sort of asset protection trust. Having said that as far as I'm aware their home is the only asset they have of any material value.

The in-laws are both 85 years old. The FIL has dementia and was sectioned about 18 months ago for a few weeks under the mental health act but his behaviour is now such that he his able to be cared for by the MIL at home. The MIL has her own health problems not least of which is mild parkinsons and other minor ailments one develops in old age.

My wife and her mother are attorneys jointly and severally under a registered EPA, the donor being my FIL. (Fortunatley my FIL had insisted on setting this up years ago as a result of family history). We adopted his wisdom and my wife and I are now attorneys jointly and severally on an LPA, the MIL being the donor. (For anyone thinking about setting up powers of attorney it is possible to download or obtain the forms from the public guardians office and do it oneself, we did).

My only concern with setting up the type of structure I mentioned above is whether it would be effective with regard to the deliberate depravation rule? Anyone have any experience of this?

RAS

I am not sue that as attornies you can change the tenancy in the way you have discussed. At present FIL jointly owns the whole house with MIL. If MIl dies first, he owns it outright. As Tenants in Common he only owns half the house, which means that the alteration would deprive him of assets and you are not allowed to do that under a EPA. You can only do things that benefit him, not things that deprive him.

pineapple

Right - my parents were advised to change their wills and have the beneficiaries as family - not each other. Unfortunately their solicitor neglected to check the ownership basis of the house. My mother died suddenly just as the house was being sold and her share went to my father - which is what we were all trying to avoid.
As a dementia adviser this used to be one of the first things I used to advise families about.
I am not sure about the situation if there is an existing POA. Suggest contacting the Alzheimers Society and also CareAware which gives free legal and financial advice.

GTG

Thanks for your replies RAS and pineaple. I'll take a look at your suggestions pineaple.

Lindagreenacre

It is possible to download from the land registry website the SEV form to sever the joint tenancy of our property and it is even free to submit.
Can anyone tell me how to then go about making it known that we are then tenants in common. Is there another form? or do we need to see a solicitor?
Linda