Tenants in common

ChrisBr

Hi


My Father died recently and left a nil rate band discretionary trust in his will. At the time of his death he had very few savings but a substantial house which appears, from a Land Registry search, to have been owned with my Mother as joint beneficial tenants.


We therefore have very few free assets to transfer into the trust as his share of the house will automatically transfer to my Mother.


We are looking to use the trust to protect assets from possible care home fees in the future, and I know that my Father always intended that the property was owned on a Tenants in Common basis, ie that his 50% share would have been available for transfer into the £325,000 nil rate trust.


Can anyone tell me please whether it is possible to amend the ownership basis retrospectively?


We will be speaking with a solicitor soon but any help or guidance in the meantime would be greatly appreciated.


Many thanks

Crabapple

I have no idea if one ever has or could be challenged if care fees became an issue, but yes, you can do a retrospective severance by deed.

They are normally done in just the situation you describe. Speak to your Solicitor about it as it will need to be worded right and then the property transferred to the names of the surviving owner and the trustees (or at least some of them).

ChrisBr

That's really helpful, thanks Crabapple.

g6jns_2

ChrisBr wrote: »

Hi


My Father died recently and left a nil rate band discretionary trust in his will. At the time of his death he had very few savings but a substantial house which appears, from a Land Registry search, to have been owned with my Mother as joint beneficial tenants.


We therefore have very few free assets to transfer into the trust as his share of the house will automatically transfer to my Mother.


We are looking to use the trust to protect assets from possible care home fees in the future, and I know that my Father always intended that the property was owned on a Tenants in Common basis, ie that his 50% share would have been available for transfer into the £325,000 nil rate trust.


Can anyone tell me please whether it is possible to amend the ownership basis retrospectively?


We will be speaking with a solicitor soon but any help or guidance in the meantime would be greatly appreciated.


Many thanks

Putting the assets into a trust will not protect them from care home fees. You need paid fro professional advice from a trust specialist not a run of the mill solicitor.

getmore4less

The joint ownership could have been severed but not registered.

Time for a search back to why it was registered joint in the first place and any document since then that might have severed the tenancy, like around the time the will was made.