Is this legal

Piccyman

This is happening to a friend of mine (I will call him Paul)

Paul's father is in a home with dementia, his mother has had a stroke and will also have to go into a home, but currently is in hospital.
Paul's father owns the house out write and is the only name on the deeds.
Social services are now evicting Paul from his family home so they can sell the house to pay for his father, who is currently getting paid by the state.
The social services will home the mother for free, as the father will be paid for by the proceeds of the house.

Is this legal?

Any help would be appreciated.

sammyjammy

As long as Paul isn't a pensioner or classed as a vulnerable adult then yes I believe it is legal.

Your post is probably better suited to the Benefits board.

Caz3121

From my understanding the home would have not been taken into account whilst Paul's mother was living there but now she is also going into a home then the house will be considered when calculating funding
I do not believe that the house will need to be sold if there are other ways of paying the charges - could it be rented out and other family pay any topup? often selling the home is the only way people can release the funds they require

roonaldo

How are social services evicting from a home they dont own?

tBagpuss_2

Assuming that Paul is an adult, then given that he is no an owner of the property, yes.

It would be open to him to take some legal advice (A solicitor who is a member of 'Solicitors for the Elderly' is likely to be the best bet initially, as they are likely to be familiar with the rules relating to Care Home fees)

thesaint

What eviction notice have they served?

ruggedtoast

Piccyman wrote: »

This is happening to a friend of mine (I will call him Paul)

Paul's father is in a home with dementia, his mother has had a stroke and will also have to go into a home, but currently is in hospital.
Paul's father owns the house out write and is the only name on the deeds.
Social services are now evicting Paul from his family home so they can sell the house to pay for his father, who is currently getting paid by the state.
The social services will home the mother for free, as the father will be paid for by the proceeds of the house.

Is this legal?

Any help would be appreciated.

Unfortunately I believe so. You can get your father to sign the house over to you but I believe this is statute barred so it's probably too late to do so. You may also have to pay capital gains tax and then end up with nothing.

I would suggest you need a proper lawyer urgently to see if there is anything you can do.

As someone else suggested maybe you can rent the house out and pay some of the bills that way. Be prepared though as the costs for residential care are massive. If your parents need round the clock medical care they will be absolutely astronomical.

jamesd

Who has the legal right to act on behalf of the father? Is it Paul or is it Social Services or someone else? Who holds the power of attorney?

Whoever holds the power of attorney must act in the best interests of the father, with his care needs currently being top priority. If Paul is the POA holder, Paul may well be required to evict Paul or face a complaint that he has deprived his father for his own benefit, with possible criminal prosecution for abuse of the POA in this case.

Selling the property may not be the best solution if it is practical to let the property on the open market. Selling rather than letting it might harm the financial interests of the father compared to evicting Paul and letting it.

A lifetime mortgage may be available and sufficient to purchase an immediate needs annuity that would pay the care costs. This would defer a possible sale until after the death of the father.

Paul, of course, could offer to buy the property if he has the financial means to do so. If he's on benefits and unable to, this falls under the category of good that the money can be used to pay for care for the parents, life sucks for Paul who gets to live now as Paul can manage on his own means.

jamesd

ruggedtoast wrote: »

You can get your father to sign the house over to you but I believe this is statute barred so it's probably too late to do so.

It isn't statute barred. It is barred by the care deprivation of assets test.

PasturesNew

The only other option is to go down the Deferred Payments route. This is used when fees are due and you can't or won't sell your house to meet them.

They put a charge on the property, the fees accumulate - and the fees are paid when the house is eventually sold.

But the house still needs to be sold at some point, or the son needs to pay the fees; son can buy the house himself if he wishes.

This is where better off people tend to "do better" as they've already protected what they've got years ago. "Your average man" bobbles along in life, then this occurs and they're surprised.

If he goes down the deferred route ..... and doesn't sort out the situation, then his father dies, about 2 months later they can "force" the charge on the house and insist it is now sold to settle the debt. So deferring is to be used when you have a plan on what to do. Maybe to gain more time for son to make his own arrangements, house to sell etc, or if son wants more time to buy it himself.

Dan-Dan

but what person/s could plan for this tragic story , BOTH parents at the same time , any person would need many thousands of pounds to deal with it, surley only a small % of people could ride this out without being stuck