Woul'd like to get elderly aunt new home

Londonsu

Very complicated, 30 years ago my husband inherited a house from his granddad, however we couldn't live there, as under the terms of the will husbands aunt must be able to live in the house until she died, tragic story the aunt and her family were involved in a car accident, aunts husband was killed and her daughter my husbands cousin was brain damaged, aunt had to give up her job to become cousins carer and moved in with the granddad, for some reason the house wasn't left to her but to my husband, but it was her and her daughters home the will made that very clear and there was some money left to the aunt.


10 years ago the cousin died but by then the aunt was a pensioner and the money left had run out, so we have been paying the council tax, maintenance and even a gardener, aunt only pays utilities and of course no rent, she gets no benefits other than her pension, we did look into pension credit but to be honest, PC is a gateway to HB and council tax relief and as she doesn't pay any of those it wasn't worth it, if she needs any extras we pay for them.


Aunt now is too old and frail to live in the house she only lives downstairs but does not need residential care, we have discussed it with her and she would like to have a bungalow or downstairs flat where she can have her two cats, she is excited about moving and can speak of nothing else so she is not being coerced by us in any way (she has all her marbles, sharp as a tack )


Let me make this clear we have no intention of selling the house, its a 1930s detached villa and although worth a fortune it would be our family home I love the house, its more or less untouched since it was built and has wonderful original features.


What I would like to do is to sell OUR home and use the proceeds of the sale to buy somewhere nearby for aunt, move into aunts house and then when the sad days comes and she is no longer with us, sell or rent the new property, I have looked at warden run flats but it looks like a minefield.


Obviously we are going to have to break the will and I assume that means going to court, granddads original solicitor no longer exists and I would assume aunt would need her own, but she cant pay for that, and if we paid it may cause a conflict of interests as we would be paying two lots of solicitors for the same case (and God knows how much that will cost) I realise her interests would need to be protected and would be willing to sign any document stating we would not be charging her rent and she would never be turfed out.


Our solicitor is aware of the terms of granddads will, as when aunt fell down last year and had to have carers for a few weeks, the council got suspicious of the set up as it wasn't one they had come across before and we had to show a lot of proof that she didn't have any income other than her pension and no assets and our solicitor dealt with all of that.


It would be really good for aunt to move she lives a couple of buses away from where we are living now, and if we moved into the house we could get her somewhere nearer there so we could see her every day.


We are going to speak to our solicitor in a couple of weeks when we can both get time off work but am wondering if anyone here has done anything similar


Thanks for reading

eddddy

Perhaps I'm looking at this too simplistically, but...

- The aunt has the right to live in the 'villa', but she chooses to live in a rent free bungalow instead.

- The aunt invites you to live in the 'villa'.


I can't see any problem with that, and I don't see why it's breaking the will. (Just because she has the right to live somewhere doesn't mean she must.)

From what you say, you're not doing this in order to claim any benefits, evade taxes etc - so who would care?

I guess there might be a risk that the aunt decides she hates the bungalow and wants to move back to the villa, which might get tricky. Perhaps it might be best to get the aunt to sign something saying she won't do that - which might be worth discussing with the solicitor.

G_M

I don't think you are being simplistic edddy.

Just because aunt has the right to live in the villa does not mean she has to!

Nor does it mean you cannot. However, clearly she would have the right to return if she wished (and probobly kick you out?).

Doubtless your solicitor can confirm this.

Incidentally, I'm not sure what her current status is as occupier of your husband's property. Not a tenant (no rent) so I guess a licencee, though with an absolute right to occupy. But just to be safe I'd ensure you treat the property as if a tenancy existed and get annual gas safety reports etc. (not just service).

If there's gas that is!

Mojisola

Londonsu wrote: »

under the terms of the will husbands aunt must be able to live in the house until she died

Surely, the terms of the will allow her to live there - not insist that she does?

I can't see any reason why you can't provide her with another home that suits her better.

[Deleted User]

To be fair to aunt, can you give her a life-time rent-free occupancy of a bungalow + lump sum, equal to the value of the villa? That way no-one could say she was receiving anything less out of the arrangement. The lump-sum would likely come in handy for incidentals, topping up pension, home carers if need be.

G_M

The 'lump sum' is unecessary (though a matter of choice).

the villa does not belong to aunt so its value is of no relevance.

TBagpuss

Talk to your solicitor. Given that your aunt has mental capacity, there should not be any need to go to court.
Where you will need to do is to get some advice, and probably a new deed or agreement drawn up in relation to the new property, to make sure that the terms of your aunt's occupation of the new property are clear (in partiucualr, you may want to ensure that any new agreement allows you to sell that property if she moves into permanent residental care elsewhere, not only in the event of her death)

I don't think that there is any need to pay her a lump sum - as she does not own the villa the sale price isn't the major issue.

I'd suggest that you speak to a solicitor who is a member of STEP and Solicitors for the Elderly.

Your aunt is likely to need separate advice in due course, but it would make sense for you to speak to someone first, so that there is a firm proposal and (ideally) a new deed / agreement to sign when she sees her solicitor.

[Deleted User]

G_M wrote: »

The 'lump sum' is unecessary (though a matter of choice).

the villa does not belong to aunt so its value is of no relevance.

I do see your point, the aunt couldn't sell the property if she wished to, so the sale value isn't relevant, and she doesn't need monetary compensation for any loss in value.

What's perhaps more relevant is whether aunt is getting to live in a property that is equally as valuable (to her) as a place to live. e.g. as much space as she was able to use in the villa, at least as close to amenities, etc. Especially if there are other relatives around that might question the OP's good intentions!

That was what I was trying to think of with the lump-sum idea: if the house is worth more than a bungalow (to sell), you might say it was also worth more to live in. It might appear that the aunt was being 'palmed off', and how could that be countered?

xylophone

Is there any reason why you should not live in the house with your husband's aunt?

If you sold your own home, you would have a substantial amount of cash -
an architect designed extension could provide very comfortable accommodation for your aunt and allow her to stay in her family home with the reassurance of her relatives "on tap", as it were.

Mossfarr

We have recently assisted a family friend with a very similar arrangement.
Her husband left his house to his children but she had a 'life interest' to live there. Unfortunately her health deteriorated to the point where she simply could not manage in the house by herself so she chose to move into local sheltered accommodation.
Basically she just contacted her solicitor and relinquished her interest in the house. The son and daughter sold it within weeks of her moving out. She was advised that she would have been entitled to claim HB etc but has her own pension so doesn't claim anything.

In your Aunts case there will be plenty of medical evidence to support her move to more suitable accommodation so she may be entitled to claim benefits.
As xylophone says the option of adding a purpose built extension may well be the way to go. Your Aunt gets to stay close and has the support she needs and you add further value to your home. win win.

Mojisola

Londonsu wrote: »

10 years ago the cousin died but by then the aunt was a pensioner and the money left had run out, so we have been paying the council tax, maintenance and even a gardener, aunt only pays utilities and of course no rent, she gets no benefits other than her pension, we did look into pension credit but to be honest, PC is a gateway to HB and council tax relief and as she doesn't pay any of those it wasn't worth it, if she needs any extras we pay for them.

Mossfarr wrote: »

In your Aunts case there will be plenty of medical evidence to support her move to more suitable accommodation so she may be entitled to claim benefits.

Look into Pension Credit again and Attendance Allowance. Aunt can then pay to get some help around the house or whatever else she wants.