Change of ownership

marioc1

My mum is quite keep to transfer ownership of her house to her grandchildren to avoid the inevitable inheritance tax. Is this something as simple as registering it with the land registry or is there more to it? I approached a solicitors about 6 months and eventually got a response of a fee and not much information about what is involved (obviously not going to use them). Thanks for any help with this. 
M

davidmcn

marioc1 said:

My mum is quite keep to transfer ownership of her house to her grandchildren to avoid the inevitable inheritance tax. 

She's quite misguided if she thinks that'll work. Assuming she continues to live there, it will most likely still be treated as a gift with reservation, and the grandchildren will end up with a capital gains tax liability as well as the inheritance tax. Plus the other complications of them owning an additional property when it comes to SDLT etc for their "own" properties. 

hazyjo

Plus, how old are the grandchildren? Adults, or literally children (who can't own property)?

AdrianC

marioc1 said:

My mum is quite keep to transfer ownership of her house to her grandchildren to avoid the inevitable inheritance tax. Is this something as simple as registering it with the land registry or is there more to it? I approached a solicitors about 6 months and eventually got a response of a fee and not much information about what is involved (obviously not going to use them). Thanks for any help with this. 
M

WOAH! STOP!
It's almost always a terrible idea...

Firstly, is IHT "inevitable"? Really? How much is the house worth? Is there a late husband's IHT allowance available, as well?

Even if she has the money available now, will she at her death? What about care costs? If she deprives herself of her assets away now, they will almost certainly be pursued by the local authority in the event of her needing care.

Do the grandchildren want to be her landlord, with all the legal implications? What if they hit financial trouble? Does she really want to waste their FTB benefits and saddle them within increased SDLT when they buy their own homes?