Signing Mum's House To Me

carolann312

My 85 year old mum who is in reasonably good health has started to worry that if she becomes ill in the future and needs to go into care her house will have to be sold. She has heard that a friend of hers has signed her house over to her daughter to prevent this. Is this something that is possible legally and, if so, what is the procedure we need to follow?

Catswhiska

No. See deprivation of assets. She would be treated as if she still had the value of the house

badmemory

At 85 it is unlikely that this will be seen as anything other than deprivation of assets. Which would mean it wouldn't work. If her friend is of a similar age then the same would apply.


Also consider that if the person they sign the house over to lands up divorcing their current spouse then this property will form part of the couples assets & they could land up without a roof over their heads.


Far more important - has your mum got a power of attorney in place so that someone (you?) can deal with her affairs should she not be able to? Far better that she is able (via a POA) to have a decent care home if needed in her more advanced years than that it should be left to her children.

chesky

However, if you are over 60 and still live with your mother, then the house will not need to be sold to pay the fees anyway.

Keep_pedalling

Your mother would be very foolish to give up her security to do this. What would happen to her if you died first or got into financial difficulties? How would your siblings feel about their inheritance all going to you?

Going by an older thread the property was purchased from the council under RTB less than 5 years ago, so it probable could not be transferred without paying back the big discount.

Tell her not to worry, that the chances are that she will never need residential care, but if she does that you would rather that she has more choice as a self funder than risk relying totally on the LA.

Marcon

carolann312 wrote: »

She has heard that a friend of hers has signed her house over to her daughter to prevent this.

Just goes to show you shouldn't believe all you hear! As others have said, this would look like deliberate deprivation of assets. If the house has to be sold to pay for her to receive decent quality care, rather than be stuck in some sort of sink home paid for by the local authority, surely that is what her offspring would prefer?

Flugelhorn

carolann312 wrote: »

She has heard that a friend of hers has signed her house over to her daughter to prevent this.

Sounds like the earache I got when mother wanted me to "do what your cousin did to stop his parents house being used for care home fees".... I guessed this was TIC

yeh right - spoke to eminently sensible cousin and yes his parents had become tenants in common, with a view to protecting 50% of the value of the property (turned out to be a good move..)

then struggled to explain to mother that I wasn't being a hopeless daughter not doing this, the problem was that my father died 15 years before and when I had suggested it before his death they didn't want to know :rotfl:

xylophone

My 85 year old mum who is in reasonably good health has started to worry that if she becomes ill in the future and needs to go into care her house will have to be sold. She has heard that a friend of hers has signed her house over to her daughter to prevent this. Is this something that is possible legally and, if so, what is the procedure we need to follow?

See https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs40_deprivation_of_assets_in_social_care_fcs.pdf

carolann312

Thanks everyone. My mum's friend is 80 but she signed her house over to her daughter about 20 years ago. Don't know if that makes a difference.



My brother does live with my mum since his marriage broke up. He is 53 at the moment so if we are blesssed with my mum for a few good years yet he will be living with her aged 60.


I will pass all your information to mum. Here's hoping we never get to the situation where she needs full time care.


Thank you.

Keep_pedalling

carolann312 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. My mum's friend is 80 but she signed her house over to her daughter about 20 years ago. Don't know if that makes a difference.



My brother does live with my mum since his marriage broke up. He is 53 at the moment so if we are blesssed with my mum for a few good years yet he will be living with her aged 60.


I will pass all your information to mum. Here's hoping we never get to the situation where she needs full time care.


Thank you.

Even after all this time your mum’s friend may find that even giving away her home so long ago it is still treated as deprivation of assets.

It is also likely to lead to a hefty tax bill for her daughter when it is eventually sold, as unless it is also the daughter’s home capital gains tax will come into play. It could also have inheritance tax issues in that this is classed as a gift with reservation, so it remains part of her estate even after 20 years, and the residents nil rate band is also lost, so a potential double tax whammy.

onwards&upwards

carolann312 wrote: »

My brother does live with my mum since his marriage broke up. He is 53 at the moment so if we are blesssed with my mum for a few good years yet he will be living with her aged 60.


Thank you.

I hope your brother isn’t going to come under pressure to stay there! He’s only 53 he’s got a lot of life left!