Inheriting a house

Jimmy211

Just a quick response, My Mother is a very healthy 71 year old so I am hoping that there will be certainly no need for a care home in the near future. It was just a thought as it galls me that there are people that haven't worked all their lives and receive care free of charge. My Mother has worked all her life and you hear stories of house being taken to subside care .

AdrianC

Houses aren't "taken to subsidise care". It's her care. She pays for it. Nobody's subsidising her.
So why should the taxpayer of her local authority do so for her?

The only subsidy going on would be those taxpayers subsidising your inheritance.


The taxpayer pays for those who can't afford their own care. And that's generally thought to be a good thing... And, if she reaches a position where she can no longer pay for her care, the tax payer will be there to pay for her.


My local authority's fairly typical - about a third of their total expenditure goes on adult social services and care provision. Your council tax bill goes up by a maximum of 2% every year for general expenditure - and another 2% specifically for social care. The population of the country's aging rapidly... How much do you think you'd be paying in council tax if you were paying for EVERY elderly person who needs care? Even those who were very wealthy, with hundreds of thousands of pounds in assets...?

Mojisola

Jimmy211 wrote: »

It was just a thought as it galls me that there are people that haven't worked all their lives and receive care free of charge.

My Mother has worked all her life and you hear stories of house being taken to subside care .

AdrianC wrote: »

Houses aren't "taken to subsidise care". It's her care. She pays for it.

And she will be able to chose the home she wants to live in - if you take her money and leave her to be funded by the council, she will be in the cheapest home available.

Cakeguts

Jimmy211 wrote: »

Just a quick response, My Mother is a very healthy 71 year old so I am hoping that there will be certainly no need for a care home in the near future. It was just a thought as it galls me that there are people that haven't worked all their lives and receive care free of charge. My Mother has worked all her life and you hear stories of house being taken to subside care .

The house and all the equity in the house belongs to your mother. None of it belongs to you. If your mother needs to move to a care home (you can't tell if she will by how she is now. My mother was fit and healthy until she got Parkinsons which is an illness where you have to have 24 hour care) the house will be sold and her money that comes from that sale will be used for her benefit.



The point that you are missing here is that all of this money belongs to your mother. It is not your money. She worked hard for it and it is her money to be used for her housing. A care home is just a different place to live. He house is sold and her money is used to pay for her next place to live.



You are not entitled to any money from her house. It is entirely her money to be used for her housing. If there is some left over after she has used it to fund care in a care home you get that.



If you want what she has now you can do what she did and work hard for it.

Mcgough221

It doesn’t matter what Care Home your mum would use it depends on why she needs care? Is it a socialcare need? Then the first 23k (I think this could be different now) is discarded. Anything after that she has to contribute so much towards her care. Even if it means selling the house. If it’s a medical need she could qualify for NHS continuing care and nothing needs to be paid by the care recipient.

As for the house. 7 years it has to be in your name. Anything before that gets treated as your mums. Have you looked at putting the house into a trust? Same 7 year rules apply.

I think you need legal advice about this and personally I would sit down with your mum and discuss everything in full.

Mojisola

Mcgough221 wrote: »

As for the house. 7 years it has to be in your name.

That's only relevant for inheritance tax, not paying for social care.

trailingspouse

Jimmy211 wrote: »

Another option I was thinking of would be to buy the house at a cheap price and then she will have money in her retirement.

I'm quite shocked about this. You would seriously diddle your mother out of the full value of her house?? Why should she sell to you? She would be better off selling on the open market. And if I was her I would then make it clear in my will that anything left after paying for care should go to the local dog's home.


To all 'kids', with regards the their parents' houses I would say - patience. Why the rush to get your paws on the money? Have the decency to wait until your parents don't need it any more.

Keep_pedalling

So what happens if you both go ahead with this silly plan and then you go and die first? Will the person who inherits the house from you make her homeless? Where is she going to live if you run into financial difficulties and creditors force you to sell her house?

Do her a favour and tell her to leave things as they are, don’t take away her security or risk her having zero choice if she ever does need residential care. There is certainly no way I am going to end up in a poor care home because I do not have the means to pay for a better one.

StatusRed

Maybe because they've paid taxes their entire life and contributed to the economy of the country and local area. Arguably already paid for their care several times over..

The_Earl_of_Streatham

The tax and national insurance systems exist to provide a safety net to cover the needs of those who can't provide for themselves. They are not saving schemes that can be redeemed if you find yourself inconveniently wealthy in your later years.