Will clarification

lavalamp

A relative of mine wants to leave her house to me in her will (assuming the house still exists and hasn't been sold for her care at some point in the future). However, she wants her husband to benefit from it first - he would receive any rent from it until he passes away, but he will never own it. I should mention that she is separated from her husband, but they are not divorced. He is not financially reliable on her, nor her on him. This whole scenario is his idea - she was going to leave the house to him originally, but he doesn't want it. For clarity, he doesn't own any part of the house now and he has never lived there and doesn't intend to.

Here's what I want help with - how would this work? Is it left to me and put in Trust for him? He would like me to manage any rental and just collect the money for him (which I'm happy to do). However, how would that work in terms of income tax? Would the Trust be taxed, would I, would he? Would I be able to administer the Trust, or would it need to be a third party?

Does anyone know of any pitfalls she needs to look out for when writing the will? She will be going to a solicitor, but being in a position where she knows what to ask for makes things a little easier.

Of course, this may all change if he or I die first, but she is convinced she will go first as she's the oldest!

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.

Mojisola

Sounds like a nightmare!

lavalamp

Mojisola wrote: »

Sounds like a nightmare!

You're not wrong! :-)

Browntoa

I'd seek legal advice , I feel he's up to something

lavalamp

Browntoa wrote: »

I'd seek legal advice , I feel he's up to something

Why do you think that? He's a man in his mid-70's who just doesn't want to own another house, but some rental income will help him top up his pension....

Keep_pedalling

Can't see that he is up to anything as he was originally going to get the house without conditions attached. Sounds like the only thing he wants is some income to keep him comfortable in his latter years, but doing it this way looks very messy. An ulternative solution would be just to split the estate on a percentage basis, making sure he has enough cash to keep him comfortable should he out live his wife.

theoretica

I think this is what is meant by a life interest and actually seems quite common, but does need some thought - who pays for upkeep, what if it seems sensible to sell the property, for instance if it is hard to rent out. See for instance here:
http://www.makeawill.co.uk/page-right-to-live-file-33.html

lavalamp

theoretica wrote: »

I think this is what is meant by a life interest and actually seems quite common, but does need some thought - who pays for upkeep, what if it seems sensible to sell the property, for instance if it is hard to rent out. See for instance here:
http://www.makeawill.co.uk/page-right-to-live-file-33.html

Interesting reading. The upkeep would come from the rental income. I don't have worries about it being hard to rent out - it's in an area where rentals are snapped up quickly.

The article doesn't mention what happens though when the person doesn't live there, but I think it's on the right track. Thanks!

Yorkshireman99

lavalamp wrote: »

Interesting reading. The upkeep would come from the rental income. I don't have worries about it being hard to rent out - it's in an area where rentals are snapped up quickly.

The article doesn't mention what happens though when the person doesn't live there, but I think it's on the right track. Thanks!

Your relative needs paid for professional advice to get the will drawn up. Anything else would be folly.

theoretica

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Your relative needs paid for professional advice to get the will drawn up. Anything else would be folly.

But as the OP says in the first post being prepared going into a professional consultation is a wise method to get the most out of the time and fee.

Yorkshireman99

theoretica wrote: »

But as the OP says in the first post being prepared going into a professional consultation is a wise method to get the most out of the time and fee.

Maybe. However, provided the solicitor is given the full facts they should be in a much better position to give relevant advice than we are.