Can a parent give there house away?

Jemma.r

Hi I really need some advice my grandad will be giving my mum money soon to buy her own council home as she has lived in it many years it will be a lot cheaper and it's is way of making sure he leaves her something behind. How ever my mum's not to sure about it as she is on benifits now due to being ill. She don't know if buying the house would stop them wich then she wouldn't be able to except her dad's offer as her health is in a bad way. Any advice would be good thank you.

Pixie5740

Your mum could use the Turn2Us website to find out if accepting the gift would affect her benefits.

As for giving away the house, yes your parents could do this. Firstly they would have to repay the discount given to them when the council sold them the property as the council have the first charge on it. Secondly they would have deliberately deprived themselves of assets which again could affect their benefits and any residential care your parents may need in the future.

pinkteapot

The title of your post is a different question to your post itself.

Title: Can your grandad gift your mum money to buy her council house? Yes he can, though if he then needs to go into a care home within a certain number of years it would be considered "deprivation of assets" (ie him giving away money that should have been assessed as his for the purposes of paying for care fees).

Or, did you mean your mum buys the house then gives it to you? As the poster above said, they'd have to repay the council the discount they got on the house (a large amount). If it's legal to do this to keep claiming benefits then the system is broken, surely....

Post: If your mum owns her council house instead of renting it, will she lose any benefits? For that question, ask on the benefits board: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=139

marksoton

Jemma.r wrote: »

Hi I really need some advice my grandad will be giving my mum money soon to buy her own council home as she has lived in it many years it will be a lot cheaper and it's is way of making sure he leaves her something behind. How ever my mum's not to sure about it as she is on benifits now due to being ill. She don't know if buying the house would stop them wich then she wouldn't be able to except her dad's offer as her health is in a bad way. Any advice would be good thank you.

In this scenario where is the benefit in purchasing the property?

( I suspect i know the answer...)

theartfullodger

Gifts etc..
https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

Benefits:
It depends on the benefit: e..g. state pension you get even if you also have private pensions of £85k, property income of £120k & £5m in the bank. If he circumstances change she needs to inform the relevant authorities (eg council re HB..)

Mojisola

Jemma.r wrote: »

my grandad will be giving my mum money soon to buy her own council home as she has lived in it many years it will be a lot cheaper and it's is way of making sure he leaves her something behind.

Neither of these things are guaranteed if your mother is able to buy her house.

At the moment she has an assured tenancy (so she can stay in her house for as long as she wants), she can get benefit help towards paying the rent if she needs it and all maintenance work will be paid for the council.

As soon as she becomes the owner, she will have to start putting money aside for when the boiler breaks down or the roof needs repair or the windows need replacing, etc.

If she needs residential care, the value of the house will be counted as capital and she will have to pay her own fees (not a bad thing from her point of view because she will be able to choose a care home but not good if you're expecting an inheritance).

jonathanrolande

Before going a head, speak to your benefits office.

scotty01

The only benefits that should be stopped are benefits for paying rent ie housing benefit, you can check this online on a benefits calculator to check on the exact benefits your mum receives.

As others have pointed out, if anything goes wrong or needs replacing your mum would then need to pay for this, that is the one big downside to owning the house especially as she is out of work and possibly doesn't have a lot of money.

In terms of repaying the difference on the discount to the council if she gave away the house, i think this only applies if it's given away or sold within a few years of being bought ( do check this) but for what reason would she be giving it away?

tlc678910

If your mum is concerned about the effect of owning her house on her benefits (and there are also concerns about paying for maintenance and repairs - no savings or not sufficient income for this) There seems to be little to no benefit for your mum of owning her house and plenty of reasons not to. She sounds happy as she is. Why not ask your mum if she would like to speak to your grandad about skipping her and giving a sum/ inheritance straight to her children (the grandchildren). The title of your post suggests she might be wanting to pass this on. There are also plenty of moral and practical issues with buying a discounted council house in order to pass it on at a profit so I would forget this for a more moral/less problematic course of action. Not least because it does your mum no favours.

(This post is in no way sarcastic) I appreciate your grandad would not want his hard earned money to be "frittered" but if it were agreed it would be used against your (and siblings) mortgages or given when you were ready to put a deposit down on a house he may be happy with this. If all of this sounds too cheeky/ not suitable just ask your grandad to make sure he has a will in place reflecting his wishes. If your mum inherits and would prefer to pass the money to her children I believe she can do this immediately as some kind of variance to the will but would need to seek legal advice when relevant.

Whatever course of action you take make sure the needs and wishes of your mum and grandparent are paramount and refuse to be motivated by greed.
Best wishes
Tlc

G_M

jemma seems to have vanished so we will nevet know what the ultimaye purpose was.

Or whether they went ahead.

Dird

pinkteapot wrote: »

"deprivation of assets" (ie him giving away money that should have been assessed as his for the purposes of paying for care fees).

Home visit nursing is free though?
Would the government not provide care home rent like they would with private/council housing?