Gifting share of house to son 14 November 2020 at 8:15AM in MoneySaving dads 5 replies 414 views

nickmiles

Hi there, first time poster here and hope this is the right place to put this, apologies if not and please let me know the correct forum if so.

I fully own a 20% stake of my old property that I had with my ex wife, she has another 20% and the other 60% is owned by the local council housing association whom we bought it with under a shared ownership scheme back in the 1980's. My ex wife & two kids still live there and there is no mortgage on our respective shares.
We want to gift our shares to our two kids, I am going to gift my 20% share to our son and my ex wife is gifting her 20% to our daughter.
Do we need to get a solicitor to do this or can it be done via Land registry as I dont really want to spend more than I have to, this is MSE after all!
If anyone has experience of this or knows the procedure, I would be most grateful for any pointers. Thanks in advance

Nick

Caz3121

Is your son over 18? If not you would be looking to set up a trust.
What is the reason to do this? depending on your circumstances you may want to consider if deprivation of assets will be an issue

nickmiles

Hi Caz
Yes he will be 21 this year, my daughter is 22.

The main reason to do this is to enable him & his sister to be put on the rent book for the part owned by the HA. If something were to happen to my ex, it could cause a problem for them as they arent part of that agreement and as we decided ages ago that they were both getting our shares, it seems the logical choice.
Not sure what you mean by deprivation of assets though?

Thanks for your input

Nick

MovingForwards

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/paying-for-care/paying-for-a-care-home/deprivation-of-assets/

Also signing over part of a property means they lose their first time buyer benefits.

If the two kids turn feral after having the property signed over to them, your ex could end up homeless.

If one or both kids get married, then divorced, that share will be included in the marital assets, your ex could be made homeless.

If one or both kids hit financial difficulties and go bankrupt, their share will be included in the bankruptcy, your ex could be made homeless.

All in all, it's really not a good idea.

MovingForwards

Have you / your ex actually spoken with the HA to ask what would happen if you both died and the property was left in a will to the adult children eg can they take the tenancy on and continue to reside in the property?

nickmiles

Thank you and very valid points. I believe she has but I will double check with her on this. I have also realised that there is a Capital Gains Tax issue for me which is going to be a no no also.

Thanks again

Nick