Putting name onto parents accounts/property

Jenmar

Hi my mother in law is wanting to add my husbands name to her accounts & to put her flat in his name. She owns it outright. He works full time, i was made redundant whilst 7mths pregnant, i rec smp so havent signed on yet as advised by the job ctr but will do once smp has gone. Will her doing this affect our financial situation in anyway? Thanks

BoGoF

What ia her reasoning for doing this. It could affect you andyour husband if done incorrectly.

le_loup

Sounds like a mistake unless both parties understand fully the tax and benefit situation.
Lots more details required in order to give guidance.

alanq

Power of attorney on the bank accounts (as opposed to creating joint accounts) is likely to be a good idea. That way the money remains hers but your husband could manage the money for her when required.

Putting her flat in his name would mean it would become his flat. If she continued to live in it, unless she paid him rent at an appropriate rate, would continue to be considered hers for inheritance tax purposes.

If this is an attempt to avoid paying for care it won't work as this would be considered deliberate deprivation of assets.

Do nothing without professional advice regarding all the possible implications of the proposals.

elsien

Has she considered that if they have a falling out she could end up with nothing, if from a legal standpoint everything is in his name?

Keep_pedalling

Your MIL would be very foolish to do this. The usual reason is to avoid care costs, but that would be treated as deliberate deprivation of assets so is unlikely to work. She should also be aware that if your husband died before her, got into financial trouble or you and he got divorced she would be at risk of losing her own home.

She should certainly look at putting lasting powers of attorney in place and if she has not already done so get her will in order, so encourage her to do that, but make it clear that she should not carry out her current plan.

SevenOfNine

Deprivation of assets would not necessarily be considered, see here for a more accurate picture https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/social-care-and-support-where-to-start/paying-for-care-support/deprivation-of-assets/

Screaming those words is not correct if MiL shows absolutely no sign of needing care or support either currently or in the near'ish future (is she elderly, or showing signs of dementia???). However, when you've given more information I've little doubt there will be better, & perhaps more valid, reasons why MiL should NOT consider signing her flat over to your husband, particularly if she plans to continue living there & NOT paying market value rent to her son.

You can follow the guidelines here https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney for both types of LPA, the forms are incredibly easy to complete on-line & don't actually have to be registered (so save the fees unless she starts to show mild signs of losing mental capacity). Though must still be properly signed & witnessed etc. Then your husband can manage her finances without making them look(to all intents & purposes to benefits agencies/tax man etc) partly his.

I suppose I'm a curious as others, why is she thinking of doing this?

Keep_pedalling

SevenOfNine wrote: »

Deprivation of assets would not necessarily be considered, see here for a more accurate picture https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/social-care-and-support-where-to-start/paying-for-care-support/deprivation-of-assets/

Screaming those words is not correct if MiL shows absolutely no sign of needing care or support either currently or in the near'ish future (is she elderly, or showing signs of dementia???). However, when you've given more information I've little doubt there will be better, & perhaps more valid, reasons why MiL should NOT consider signing her flat over to your husband, particularly if she plans to continue living there & NOT paying market value rent to her son.

You can follow the guidelines here https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney for both types of LPA, the forms are incredibly easy to complete on-line & don't actually have to be registered (so save the fees unless she starts to show mild signs of losing mental capacity). Though must still be properly signed & witnessed etc. Then your husband can manage her finances without making them look(to all intents & purposes to benefits agencies/tax man etc) partly his.

I suppose I'm a curious as others, why is she thinking of doing this?

True, but you would have to show what the reason for handing over all your assets was, and I cant think of a single other reason to do so apart from IHT planning and that would need her to pay full market rent on your own home after giving it away to prevent it being classed as a gift with reservation.

SevenOfNine

The AgeUK is an informative link Keep Pedalling, with an additional comprehensive, accurate, leaflet to download for those who may require more than speculation as to whether, or not, they may be accused of asset deprivation by their LA now or at any point in the future.

OP has not yet explained (& may choose not to of course), the reasons for MiL disposing of her assets. Therefore speculation and/or assumptions are the basis for some responses at this point.

Jenmar

Thanks all. She said she wants to be organised if anything were to happen to her as her husband died very unexpectedly last year and left everything a mess. I think her thoughts were to put the flat in his name so she wouldnt have to sell it to pay for care in later years. I advised him to look into the bank acc more, she said joint account but he was advised by a friend to do POA. We were also concerned as i was made redundant whilst 7 months pregnant that when my smp runs out & i go to sign on could it affect any benefits we may get. The idea is i will look for a new job but as we all know its not as easy as it once was so may not happen straight away.

le_loup

Jenmar wrote: »

I think her thoughts were to put the flat in his name so she wouldnt have to sell it to pay for care in later years.

A very common misconception. It may not work.
If it did work, tell her about the level of council funded care homes or even try to find one.
You could also tell her that I think it's unreasonable for me to have to pay for her care when she has given all her assets to you.