Can you NOT sell a house to someone?

sortofwinning

Thanks very much for all your replies.


The POA is currently being instigated by my other aunt. The POA aunt, the aunt with dementia and my mum are all sisters. Yes, it could well be other diseases but she's 84 and doesn't know what day of the week it is and so we are all referring to it as dementia, as are the social workers involved with her. Doctors are referring to it at the minute as memory loss, but they haven't seen her trying to get out of the same car (mine) every Sunday evening for 8 months and still being unable to open the door.


But I didn't actually know that my mum couldn't sell the house without the consent of my aunt with the dementia, or my aunt who will get POA. That has just made everything about a hundred times worse, so thanks to the people who pointed that out as at least we can try and get things moving now.


I know that a lot of you are saying never mind the nephew's history and just sell to him, and that's what I would do - as a member of a forum that likes saving money - but my mum is a different kettle of fish. Excellent point though, TBagpuss, you can't do a moral background check on everyone you want to sell a house to.


Not sure about CGT because I don't know the value of the house and I don't know exactly how much money my mum has got. The house is barely being used at all at the minute. The problems will only start happening: (1) if my aunt takes the notion to let all her nieces/nephews/their kids use the house, and there's nothing to stop her (2) I had thought that when the aunt died, my mum could go ahead and sell, but now I don't know about that. Even if she is able to do that, the family would want use of the house during the probate and my mum is not able to stand up to them (I have hard evidence of this).


Regarding the nephew hoping he will get the house cheap, this may be the case but I don't think so and my mum has already said that she thinks he'll bid higher than anyone else. He wants the house because it is right opposite the beach (literally less than a minute's walk) and he's got five kids, and he has a lot of memories from his childhood from it, like we all do. The house was built by my maternal grandfather and has been in the family for decades. Prior to my grandfather and grandmother dying, the house was used by a lot of the family. After they died, the other family members got other things of roughly equivalent value, and my mum and the aunt got this house between the two of them.


My mum and her sister have not had too many conversations about what would happen to the house. This is because the house was originally wholly in my aunt's name, and for many years my aunt refused to sign over my mum's half of the house to my mum. My grandmother had stated this as her wish in front of other family members, but stupidly had never made a will.


My aunt only eventually signed over my mum's half when she was threatened with basically a naming and shaming session among family members. My aunt also is in denial about everything and is also going to die intestate because she's just a stubborn, perverse kind of person who doesn't care how much trouble she puts other people to. No, I don't like her very much. She tried to steal half a house from my mum for over a decade.


Thanks again, this has been valuable advice.

sortofwinning

xylophone wrote: »

How do you know that your aunt has dementia if it is "undiagnosed"?

If your aunt is incapable of dealing with her affairs, financial or otherwise, who is currently looking after her/her finances?

Hi, didn't see your post until now. We don't know but as mentioned, we and the social workers strongly suspect.


My other aunt is trying to get POA because the aunt with dementia has been telling people on the one hand that she owns the bank, and then on the other hand, when the POA aunt took the dementia aunt to the bank to see if the dementia aunt had enough money to pay £3k's worth of bills that had gone unpaid, the dementia aunt wouldn't let the bank tellers give the POA aunt any information at all.

Mossfarr

Another thing to consider is the type of property ownership your Mum and your Aunt have. Are they 'joint tenants' or 'tenants in kind?'
If they are Joint Tenants, when one of the owners passes away, their half share of the property goes to the other owner automatically. If this is the case your Mum is better doing nothing as she will inherit your Aunts share of the house and can dispose of it as she wants (assuming your Aunt dies first)!
If they are Tenants in kind each owner can dispose of their half share of the property however they want - but they need to state this in their Will. If no Will is made the house needs to be sold as the deceased persons half share of the house forms part of their estate and will be distributed amongst the family according to strict guidelines. In your family this sounds like a nightmare which could go on forever and cost a fortune in solicitors fees.
Your Mum needs to find out what type of ownership they have as a matter of urgency, it has huge implications, particularly if she dies first.

elsien

Two points about POA, aunt has to have the capacity to understand it, and it has to be her decision whether she wants one or not and who she appoints. If she refused to let the bank share information then it seems unlikely she would voluntarily appoint that person to look after her financial affairs.
If she has now lost financial capacity then it is too late for POA and someone would need to apply to be a financial deputy.

Winter_Phoenix

If the nephew is prepared to 'bid higher than anyone else,' then even if the house is sold to a third party, he may make the new owners an offer immediately (and still end up owning the house). Perhaps you could point this out to your mother?

xylophone

if my aunt takes the notion

You're in NI? (I recognise the turn of phrase..)

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=2296

Although "dementia" is being mentioned this does not necessarily mean that your aunt has lost the capacity to make decisions - is she going to have any form of assessment?

penguingirl

The progression of dementia can depend on the specific type- so for example, alzhiemers is typically a gradual decline, whereas vascular dementia is typically stepwise- that is you have a vascular event (a bit of your brain loses oxygen, often caused by a heart problem- can be unnoticed or a small 'funny turn') and a decline following this, and then things are already for a while. There are also things that can look very like dementia- strokes, infections, tumours so it is important that it is fully investigated. A diagnosis then can then inform her care pathway.

If she does have an impairment that could effect her ability and didn't have a POA she would need a capacity assessment- it will assess whether she can understand the information, weigh up the pros and cons, retain the information and communicate a decision. Capacity is decision specific (you can have capacity to do some things but not others) and steps need to be taken to enhance capacity. It would be assessed formally by a professional, often a social worker. If she doesn't have capacity there would then be 'best interests meeting' which involve local authority and an independent advocate as well as professionals involved.

I would get advice from the social workers about the process around POA/ capacity etc as it is their bread and butter.