Paying off my parents mortgage in secret for Christmas?

kippygolf

The nearest I got was giving my wonderful dad my year old car when I got my first company one. I said it was to say thank him for all the times he'd rescued me through growing up and starting out on life. He'd never been able to afford a (nearly) new car all his life, and beamed from ear to ear for quite some time!

They will be very proud of you.

freeisgood

You can always pay it off but leave a pound on the mortgage etc to keep it still valid sort of thing...does that still work? My dad didn't pay the last pound for some reason or other.

GaleSF63

freeisgood wrote: »

You can always pay it off but leave a pound on the mortgage etc to keep it still valid sort of thing...does that still work? My dad didn't pay the last pound for some reason or other.

I don't think that matters now unless the property hasn't yet been registered with the Land Registry - I think it was mainly for when you wanted the building society etc. to hold onto the physical copy of the deeds.

moneyistooshorttomention

freeisgood wrote: »

You can always pay it off but leave a pound on the mortgage etc to keep it still valid sort of thing...does that still work? My dad didn't pay the last pound for some reason or other.

As I recall - the reasoning behind leaving a token £1 outstanding on the mortgage was to have the deeds of the house kept safe for you???? (think that would have been by my building society).

Mind you - its been quite a few years since I paid mine off - so memory is a bit elusive on that (other than recalling that I just got shot of the lot when I paid off that final chunk of capital some years before due end of mortgage). There was NO chance I was going to even leave a solitary little £1 outstanding with that particular building society (Grabby National - as the Abbey National was not so affectionately known). They were AWFUL - and I wanted shot of them totally as I remember.

freeisgood

Grabby National :rotfl: Not heard that one.

moneyistooshorttomention

You don't want to know JUST how much trouble I had with that Grabby National one time just because I still had a (very small by that time) mortgage with them:eek::eek:. I had literally months of hassle with them because they poked their oar in on something that was basically none of their business! I won in the end - but you can understand why I got through that thinking "No-one, but no-one is even going to have a token £1 mortgage on my house if I can help it. Then no-one can play silly b&ggers ever again - as it will be absolutely exactly 100% paid off".

Davesnave

I don't suppose my solicitor's firm is unique in keeping our original title docs in "free" storage. Of course, we have copies, but they are not as much fun.

It's proved handy, as when I had a query, she just hoiked it out, answered the question by 'phone and stuck it back again.

Unfortunately, with a property like ours, it's the unanswerable questions which have potential to cause the most hassle!

patanne

Title deeds have so little value now that when I paid off my mortgage, almost 15 years ago, they returned the deeds to me in second class post. No signed for, not even a letter saying they were sending them back. Provided they are registered there seems to be little point in paying for storage, although it did used to be a good idea when that was all there was to prove ownership.

If I have a query I just pop up into my loft and read. That is how I know which fence is mine when none of my neighbours seem to!

makeitstop

clf1605 wrote: »

I personally would be entirely grateful to my children if they paid off my mortgage (if I had one).


BUT the dynamics of the relationship MAY change (it's a pride thing being capable of providing for your children, not the other way round). Some parents may be embarrassed at being forever "indebted" to you just for your sheer generosity. Only you will know your own parents and how they're likely to feel...


Perhaps you could just pay off the majority of the balance of their last statement in secret (bankers draft is untraceable for them) and just be happy knowing that they are virtually debt free, without potentially upsetting them.


Without being "negative" it could be a minefield, so just tread very carefully as you do this wonderful thing for your family. You've obviously been brought up very well not to be selfish with your wealth. I applaud you and your parents.

A considered post, but really, "upsetting them".???

Why people need to psycho analyse the relationships of others (that they have no personal knowledge of) and state what implications certain actions "may" have, is utterly utterly pointless.

I'm sure the OP has a finger on the pulse of their relationship with their own parents, can gauge whether this is an appropriate gift and also whether it's likely to be well received or not.

There's no profit for the OP in getting lectured about the "maybe type" pitfalls of doing something so incredibly generous.

Let's look at it this way.....

If either of my own children, who I believe I have raised well to be balanced and considered individuals, were in a position to pay off any mortgage that I might have, then I would not only be grateful, but proud too of the gesture and display of kindness they were making.

It's more than likely that I would have some idea of whether such a payment was easily / comfortably affordable to them, and if so, then I could accept it graciously and with humble gratitude.

Getting into second guessing the ins and outs of all possible after effects or scenario's of indebtedness / guilt or otherwise is a complete waste of time.

Stick to the OP's question.

Oh, and by the way, OP.... Awesome idea. I hope this works out for you and your family.

moneyistooshorttomention

Agreed Dave - with, one way or another, being in a position to readily check the original Deeds.

I was able to establish things like exactly when a couple of bits of work had been done on my last house.

With my current house - I've been able to establish for sure and prove it that my neighbours were lying when they swore to me that "black is white" about a couple of things.:D