Council tax while living rent free from family

getmore4less

theartfullodger wrote: »

Who or what supervises those holding PoA to ensure they behave as they should? Anyone know?

No one.

There is no organisation with the statutory power to monitor those with POA.

The Office of the Public Guardian has the duty to monitor those appointed as deputies by the court but not those appointed by a doner.

They also have the power/duty to investigate any reported wrong doing of a living vulnerable person.

once dead any investigation of previous wrong doing while alive needs to be done by administrators.

this gives a reasonable overview
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-policy-protecting-vulnerable-adults/sd8-opgs-safeguarding-policy


Duty of care/safeguarding comes into play for everyone(not just paid people) that deals with or has contact with vulnerable people.


Here is the code of practice for the Mental Capacity Act 2005

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497253/Mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice.pdf

saajan_12

emg26 wrote: »

Hi

My great grandma owns her own house and has now moved into a nursing home for care. Her 2 daughters (my grandma and great aunt) have power of attorney and are looking after all her finances. - okay, that means they HAVE to act in her best interests. They have agreed to let me and my partner live in my great grandmas house rent free as we save some money to buy our own. - That's great for you, but the POAs could be in trouble for giving away the return on the property, ie the market rent. This could be seen as deprivation of capital, meaning great grand mother wouln't get state funded care after her money ran out, upto the level of free rent you've taken.

The agreement is that we pay all the utilities, council tax etc. - yes, as would be normal for a tenant. However, when applying for council tax it asks for either the solicitor if you own the home or the name of the landlord if renting. As we are not paying rent I don't know if we are technically renting. - You are renting, whether as a tenant or licencee. I also don't want to give my great grandmas name as I don't want to implicate her in anything such as extra taxes etc. Does anyone have any advice on how this needs to work or any more problems we may run into? - Your LL is great grand mother: her representatives (through their POA) let the property to you. What trouble do you expect from stating the truth?

Thanks

emg26 wrote: »

Does anyone know if I do pay rent to my great grandma, will this mean extra tax or any implications for her/her money?

If great grandmother receives rental income from you (whether in the form of cash or benefit in kind) then she will be liable for income tax on that. However
a) if she receives rent in cash, that will be less than the income itself so she's no worse off!
b) if she receives benefit in the form of renovations, but has to pay £ in tax, she could be worse off from a cash flow perspective and if the 'benefit' of the renovations fails to eventually achieve a tangible gain eg in property price

Just pay your great grandmother the market rent and if you want a free gift to save for a deposit, then get it from someone who has the capacity to make that decision. eg could grandmonther / aunt help, from their own money not through their POA.

emg26

Thanks everyone for your comments. Yes my great grandma has made this decision and is happy for it to happen. The PoA are just helping it all along and acting with her wishes. That is not the issue I was just wanting to know how to pay the council tax but I will get in touch with the council and speak to them myself.

G_M

You are either

* living there rent free, or

* you are paying rent in kind ("we are refurbishing/doing up the house putting a lot of money into it")


It sounds like the latter. Putting aside the obligations of the attorneys which others have touched on, you are a tenant.


Great Gandma is your landlord.
* she must comply with all a landlord's obligations. Read New landlords for an idea....
* she should declare and pay tax on the value of the 'improvements' (rent)
* you should pay council tax at the full rate, as occupier. If the councl want to know your LL's name, it is GGM.

Red-Squirrel_2

emg26 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your comments. Yes my great grandma has made this decision and is happy for it to happen. The PoA are just helping it all along and acting with her wishes. That is not the issue I was just wanting to know how to pay the council tax but I will get in touch with the council and speak to them myself.

Its something you need to be aware of though.

An attorney acting improperly is a serious matter, I assume your aunt/grandmother only have good intentions but if they aren't aware of the seriousness of the mistake they are making you have a responsibility to them as well as to your great grandmother.

I know its hard to save for a deposit, but this isn't the way, you are benefitting to the detriment of your older/elderly relatives.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

emg26 wrote: »

They have agreed to let me and my partner live in my great grandmas house rent free as we save some money to buy our own.

emg26 wrote: »

Also we are refurbishing/doing up the house putting a lot of money into it to add value so they can sell when ready in a couple of years.

So which is it? Saving or doing the house up? If you think you'll be adding value then You must be spending a significant sum of money and therefore not saving.

Sounds like a scheme to avoid paying care home bills to me. Still, great grandma (or her POA) are now landlords. They'll enjoy that...

BrassicWoman

if best interests = not neccessarily best financial, but grandma is happy, that is ok. Just like it can involve giving people small gifts etc.

Grandma may need to be aware of financial impact later, but she can still decide.

Not everyone in care is there due to severe dementia...

xylophone

Gt Grandma has full capacity and has told her attorneys that she would be pleased if her great granddaughter would occupy the property rent free as caretaker?

Who is responsible for the insurance of the property?

datlex

OP paying money to your grandmother will help her keep her home longer. Once her savings are used up then the property will become next on the list.

greendoor665

Without going into the rights or wrongs of whether you should pay rent, I'm in a similar situation (although grandad is still compos mentis and living with my parents, not in care).

I had a similar thing where the council tax form didn't have an option which fitted the situation. It was set up either that the property had been sold or that I was renting it. However it also had a box at the bottom which said something like 'please add any other information we should know about your application'. I put in this box that the property had not been sold, that the property was owned by my grandad and I was living in the property rent free.

The council was fine with this, I heard nothing more from them and got a bill through with my name on it a couple of weeks later and have been paying the council tax in my name ever since.