Joint tenant/disabled child

Newnew

Im a single parent to a 16 year old and a 20 year old that is autistic.i rent my house from a housing association. Due to recent events ive had to start thinking what would happen to my oldest child if i should die as i have no other family.
My question is can i add my daughter as a joint tenant, and would that mean she could remain living in our home without me? And how does that affect the rent payments.i get full hb just now. My hope is my children can carry on living here together with some kind of home help service.i have life insurance to cover costs of this if necessary

Comms69

Does your daughter have mental capacity? 

Newnew

Comms69 said:

Does your daughter have mental capacity? 

She does to an extent. Can cope with most day to day tasks with a small amount of supervision but doesnt understand money, paperwork, official stuff like that.

[Deleted User]

If that's the case then I'm not sure your daughter would have the capacity to sign a tenancy agreement.  I have a friend in a similar position although I think her daughter requires more assistance than yours.  She is looking into guardianships for when they are no longer around and a property in trust for her I think with home help.

Comms69

Newnew said:

Comms69 said:

Does your daughter have mental capacity? 

She does to an extent. Can cope with most day to day tasks with a small amount of supervision but doesnt understand money, paperwork, official stuff like that.

as @Lover_of_Lycra said i think that she may not be able to sign the agreement. With that said, she'd almost certainly be entitled to some help from the council, so is unlikely to end up homeless in that sense. You need to look at some guardianship things, perhaps a close friend?

xylophone

Why not ring your local council and ask for advice in your particular circumstances?

In the unfortunate event of your death, both your children would be regarded as vulnerable, the elder because of her disability and the younger because of her age.

I can't imagine that they would be made homeless?

And apart from that, why shouldn't your elder daughter be made a joint tenant? There are people with various vulnerabilities in HA etc provided housing all over the country?

greatcrested

Comms69 said:

Does your daughter have mental capacity? 

I don't think Comms69 was asking for your subject opinion of what she is capable of. The purpose of the question was legal.

'Mental capacity' is a legal term, decided by a doctor. If someone does not have 'mental capacity' they cannot legally sign documents or take on contracts like, for example, a tenancy.

You need to discuss this with a social worker or other professional to determine first whether your daughter does/does not have MC, and also discuss with the housing association.

Newnew

Thanks for replying. Think ill have to contact housing or maybe a solicitor. The housing association im with now does house people with disabilities i just hoped instead of all the upheaval and distress of moving her to another property she could live here where she is used to and also the house is obviously all furnished. And my younger son could live here as a carer possibly. As i said i dont have close family so its just a worry who will organise everything for her

Comms69

Newnew said:

Thanks for replying. Think ill have to contact housing or maybe a solicitor. The housing association im with now does house people with disabilities i just hoped instead of all the upheaval and distress of moving her to another property she could live here where she is used to and also the house is obviously all furnished. And my younger son could live here as a carer possibly. As i said i dont have close family so its just a worry who will organise everything for her

It's very unlikely a 16 year old would be able to do that. (and whilst this is a housing board - it's not fair to expect him to spend his life caring for his older sister. You need to have a better plan in place, work with social services etc so that contigencies are ready).

Newnew

Comms69 said:

Newnew said:

Thanks for replying. Think ill have to contact housing or maybe a solicitor. The housing association im with now does house people with disabilities i just hoped instead of all the upheaval and distress of moving her to another property she could live here where she is used to and also the house is obviously all furnished. And my younger son could live here as a carer possibly. As i said i dont have close family so its just a worry who will organise everything for her

It's very unlikely a 16 year old would be able to do that. (and whilst this is a housing board - it's not fair to expect him to spend his life caring for his older sister. You need to have a better plan in place, work with social services etc so that contigencies are ready).

I dont mean long term.obviously he can eventually move on to do his own thing but as my daughter cant why couldnt they stay together as a support until other arrangements have been made.he would also require a home

elsien

Which part of the country are you in - guardianship is a Scottish thing and does not apply to England for adults who lack capacity.  There are health/welfare deputyships but it is unusual for these to be granted. 
You have two issues - what your landlord's position is on joint tenancies, and your daughter's capacity around this. 

Just for information - with regards to capacity around a tenancy, your daughter would need to understand the salient points, not every detail. So her obligation to pay rent, that she cannot behave in a way that upsets other tenants in the area, that she has to let people in to do repairs and keep the place in a reasonable condition, that she can be evicted if she doesn't meet her obligations, that sort of thing. She also has to have every opportunity to show she has capacity, so time spent going through that with her to support her understanding should also be done first,  She can have an appointee to support with managing her money if that is an issue. 
If she does not have capacity to sign a tenancy, it doesn't mean that she can't either stay where she is or live in another flat with support, but it does mean that either the landlord agrees to accept an unsigned tenancy. or an application to the court of protection would be needed to have a tenancy in her name. And depending on the size of the property, any implications around benefits and bedroom tax if she does live on her own. 
This is probably where the local authority would come in, because they would need to assess the level of support that she needs before looking at where is best for her to live if she can't make that decision for herself but I have known situations where it has been feasible for people to stay put after the death of their main carer. 
Is she already on the LA radar from previous assessments of care and support needs? If not, you can request one now although again due to Covid, things are being delayed a bit.