Joint or Tenancy in Common

ElizabethJane

I'm now retired, sold my own house and returned home to care for my elderly mother. I am one of a number of siblings who all take an active role in her care. The house is currently totally owned by our mother and is a freehold property. Both for the purpose of raising money to fund my Mum's future care, and to give me my own sense of security, I'm proposing to my family that I buy half the property. My mother wants to sell me the whole house but I'd rather keep some ready cash for needed house maintenance, and so she also feels secure and not displaced.

Would it be better to go for a tenancy in common, or a joint tenancy? What are the problems and/or advantages to each option?

Are there particular stamp duty implications? The house is valued at approx £400k. If I buy half now and inherit the other half in the future will this mean paying stamp duty twice?

We will of course be seeking legal advice but any comments or advice from this post will help us in preparing for an advice session.

Many thanks

Pixie5740

Do you have £200k in cash to pay for half the house? You would pay SDLT on the £200k, there's no SDLT should you inherit the the rest or at least some more of the property if your mum dies.

If you own the property as joint tenants then you each own the whole property. When one joint tenant dies their interest in the property automatically goes to the surviving joint tenant(s). With tenants in common you and your mother could each own a 50% share of the property. A tenant in common is free to leave their share of the property to whomever they like in their will.

ElizabethJane

Yes I have £200k cash ready the buy. So if we go for a joint tenancy I would be dispossessing my siblings as currently all 6 of us stand to inherit the house on my mother's death.

If we had a tenancy in common, and I was to undertake to buy their share of the property at probate, then I suppose I would have to pay additional SDLT?

xylophone

Are you over 60 and moving in specifically to care for your mother?

If the consideration is care home fees below might be relevant.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/means-tests-for-help-with-care-costs-how-they-work

However, your home won’t be counted as capital if certain people still live there.

They include:

Your husband, wife, partner or civil partner
A close relative who is 60 or over,

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Factsheets/FS38_Treatment_of_property_in_the_means-test_for_permanent_care_home_provision_fcs.pdf?dtrk=true

Page 6

If you enter a care home permanently, any interest you have in your
existing ‘main or only’ home is usually taken into account as capital.
However, there are circumstances where it must be disregarded. This
applies if you no longer occupy the property but it is occupied in part or
whole as their main or only home by:
 your partner, former partner or civil partner, except where you are
estranged
 a lone parent who is your estranged or divorced partner
 a relative of yours or member of your family who is:
 aged 60 or over, or
 a child of yours aged under 18, or
 incapacitated.
This only applies where your property has been occupied by one of
those listed above since before you went into a care home. The
disregard lasts until this circumstance changes. There is no retrospective
element to your care home charge.

ElizabethJane

That's very helpful...thanks