Family Dilema over Parents future welfare

accoustic22

Thanks for the advice - my mum is capable of making decisions, my dad is not.
Yes the money I suppose would be gifted to my brother rather than invested (building work has not yet started but is imminent ) and my relationship with my brother is not the best.
So I guess that if care costs were needed in the future for one of them then we as a family would need to raise the money between us then.

TBagpuss

I suggest that you, and / or ypur paretns, take some professional legal advice. It would usually be sensible in this kind of situation to have a declaration or trust or a charge ver the proeprty to reflect the contribnution made by your paretns. Ifthey die, then the asset (i.e. their interest) would form part of their estates, and can be left by will (or intestacy)

A will can add terms - for instnace it could give your brother a specific grace period afte rthe sedond death to allow him time to raise the money to buy out the estate's interest (e.g. giving him (say) 12 months to buy out the estate before he hassd to sell the house to release your parents's share.

if the interest is protected by a charge registered against the property this would provide some [rotection against his remortgaging, as your paretns (or their attorney's, if they lost capacity) would normally need to consent to a new mortgage, although it would not necessarily protect them against his drawing down further advances against the existing mortgage.

AylesburyDuck

accoustic22 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice - my mum is capable of making decisions, my dad is not.
Yes the money I suppose would be gifted to my brother rather than invested (building work has not yet started but is imminent ) and my relationship with my brother is not the best.
So I guess that if care costs were needed in the future for one of them then we as a family would need to raise the money between us then.

In a nutshell yes, unless you got continued care, dementia comes under continued care but you may find yourself funding your mother.
I think maybe a sit down with your mother is on the cards before building work starts and the situation is then out of your hands completely.

Pa_Ja

I would perhaps raise the question that if there were medical costs in the future that the money comes from parents house sale.
Furthermore, if there was a marriage breakdown between your brother and sis-in-law, does she get half of the house + ext equity?
Also, £100k for an extension??

Sambella

accoustic22 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice - my mum is capable of making decisions, my dad is not.
Yes the money I suppose would be gifted to my brother rather than invested (building work has not yet started but is imminent ) and my relationship with my brother is not the best.
So I guess that if care costs were needed in the future for one of them then we as a family would need to raise the money between us then.

We?

No. your brother has the benefit of all the money it seems so he can pay. But will he?

Your first post included an interesting comment that 'they are responsible for housing their teenage kids'. What did he mean by that exactly? Is he planning on usiing any gains to buy his kids a house each?

This has the potential to go very very wrong I'm afraid.

AylesburyDuck

Sambella wrote: »

We?

No. your brother has the benefit of all the money it seems so he can pay. But will he?

Your first post included an interesting comment that 'they are responsible for housing their teenage kids'. What did he mean by that exactly? Is he planning on usiing any gains to buy his kids a house each?

This has the potential to go very very wrong I'm afraid.

I read that as it's his teenage childrens home and they wouldnt be selling untill they were adult and possible left the nest.

marksoton

Well brother dear has all this sewn up rather nicely doesn't he....

missbiggles1

accoustic22 wrote: »

Hi London Town and thank you for the very quick response. There are 3 siblings involved, my sister will just go along with anything for an easy life and usually wont speak up much.
OK so even 5 or 10 years down the line the council could refuse care costs because the sale money was invested in my brothers extension (if they later needed care)?
This is exactly the kind of thing we weren't aware of, do you think there could be other areas we haven't thought of that could cause a problem later on? Our main concern is that if my parents need something then we can get it and make what limited time they have left as comfortable as possible but my brother has full control of their finances and money,we haven't seen any of their bank statements or anything like that, not sure if we should look into this side of it a little more?

Do you mean that he has power of attorney for them? If so, there are rules around the way this is used which you could enforce.

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/money-matters/legal-issues/powers-of-attorney/power-of-attorney/

If he hasn't got poa, what sort of control does he have?

accoustic22

Thanks Sambella, charging my parents rent or increasing it even isn't something that ever crossed our minds. I don't know if they are paying anything and its never been raised for discussuion but that is a valid point and something we shall ask - so thank you for that .

accoustic22

Thanks missbiggles1, no he doesn't have power of attorney, not that we have been made aware of anyway - he just has access to their money and cards for food and such like fuel for the car to run them around to doctors, hospital etc - that what we understand it to be anyway.