Inheritance advice

kelly78

Sadly 3 years ago my mother in law was diagnosed with Alzheimers my father in law then set up a trust will and changed how him & MIl to tenants in common. My FIL left his share of the house to his sons should he die before my MIL.

Both in laws have moved nearer my brother and sister in law and live across the road from them. They are renting a house which they love and they are so much happier where they are. They now want to sell there house. My FIL is now worried about the sale proceeds should he die before my MIL and if she needs more care he doesnt want it swallowed up in care fees. they want to gift some money to there sons so they will see some of there inheritance.

My MIL is so much happier where she is its lovely and quiet and there both worried that if my FIL dies before her that all there hard earned money will dissapear. Where do they stand in gifting money they even want to put the sale proceeds into my FIL name and write a new will. Im a bit worried if they do this and thought to ask on here before seeing a solicitor and them having to pay. They have no other savings and the house is worth around £75k.

dzug1

Deprivation of assets in order to avoid care fees doesn't work.


Consider why 'we', the tax payer, should pay for the care when the recipient can afford it him/herself.


Isn't that really what their hard earned money is for - to live in reasonable comfort in old age, at least until it runs out.

DiamondLil

kelly78 wrote: »

My FIL is now worried about the sale proceeds should he die before my MIL and if she needs more care he doesnt want it swallowed up in care fees.

It wouldn't be "swallowed up" but, rather, MIL using the money to buy herself a better place to live.

atush

I dont see your problem. If the FIL dies, his share of the house goes to the sons, and his wife has her share in the house to fund care?

So they need to keep the house and rent it out? If they want to sell it then I am afraid it could be part of his estate.

I am sure there could be something in his will leaving some/all of his share of any assets to the sons.

But surely you'd rather see both of them or the MIL cared for properly instead of an inheritance?

kelly78

Im not some money grabbing in law both worked incredibly hard all there lives and want to enjoy what quality time they have left with each other. My FIL wants to gift money to his sons and wants to protect the rest so MIL will be comfortable if she does have to have care and it not be swallowed up by fees and she be left with nothing.

Mojisola

kelly78 wrote: »

Sadly 3 years ago my mother in law was diagnosed with Alzheimers my father in law then set up a trust will and changed how him & MIl to tenants in common.

kelly78 wrote: »

Im not some money grabbing in law both worked incredibly hard all there lives and want to enjoy what quality time they have left with each other.

My FIL wants to gift money to his sons and wants to protect the rest so MIL will be comfortable if she does have to have care and it not be swallowed up by fees and she be left with nothing.

He might want to but he also has to comply with the law.

The only possible way round it is for the house to be sold and the money put 50/50 in separate named accounts. MIL and FIL can then leave the contents of their account to the children, rather than each other.

Any money gifted away now could be reclaimed by the council - read up on deprivation of capital/assets.

There's nothing stopping the in laws enjoying their last years together - having the money to pay towards the care they need in their last years is a very good use of their savings.

xylophone

If the house is owned as tenants-in-common, then mother and father each have a defined share of the equity of the property, presumably half each.

On sale therefore, father's share goes into his sole account (s) and mother's into hers.

See http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Factsheets/FS39_Paying_for_care_in_a_care_home_if_you_have_a_partner_fcs.pdf?dtrk=true

"The local authority cannot include capital or income belonging to your partner
in the assessment. Local authorities should not use joint assessment forms
that ask for details of both partners’ finances. However, local authorities may
ask for details of your partner’s finances on a separate form for the purposes
of ensuring that they will not be left with insufficient resources to live on when
you go into a care home."

Father can will his own assets wherever he wishes and use his own money however he wishes - however, if he himself is elderly and thinks he may need care in the future,he will wish to consider the deprivation question.

If mother's will refers to half of the property, then clearly this bequest fails but one assumes the will also covered cash assets, into which category any remaining sale proceeds would fall.

comeandgo

How about going to look at some of the care homes in the area, those that are run with council covering the residents costs and those with self funded residents. Which one would you like to spend your final years in?

madeinireland_2

Mojisola wrote: »

He might want to but he also has to comply with the law.

"Any money gifted away now could be reclaimed by the council - read up on deprivation of capital/assets."

As a matter of interest how do they go about this - surely there must be some time limit on this - if someone gifts you money and a couple of years later they go into care it's not your fault as the recipient and what if you have spent it by then ?

Mojisola

madeinireland wrote: »

As a matter of interest how do they go about this - surely there must be some time limit on this - if someone gifts you money and a couple of years later they go into care it's not your fault as the recipient and what if you have spent it by then ?

If a person gives away money in order to avoid care home fees or in order to claim benefits, they will be assessed as if they still have the money.

The money can sometimes be reclaimed from the recipient but, more often, the person who has given it away struggles.

uknick

madeinireland wrote: »

Mojisola wrote: »

He might want to but he also has to comply with the law.

"Any money gifted away now could be reclaimed by the council - read up on deprivation of capital/assets."

As a matter of interest how do they go about this - surely there must be some time limit on this - if someone gifts you money and a couple of years later they go into care it's not your fault as the recipient and what if you have spent it by then ?

This link says there is no limit;

http://www.payingforcare.org/deprivation-of-assets

and this one;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/longtermcare/4272337/A-Problem-Shared-How-do-I-hang-on-assets-when-a-relative-needs-residential-care.html

which is how I thought it was.

I suppose it's similar to tax evasion (not avoidance) with regard to no official time limits as to when they can take action.

How it works in practice seems to be they consider you're guilty unless you can prove your innocence. Again, a bit like tax evasion.

But, I'm only going by what I've read and heard. I have no experience of actually going into battle with a council over this.