Gifted Property- Family Dispute

Loski_18

Hello, I'm looking for some advice if possible. To provide a bit of background, I was raised by my Grandmother since birth and then also her 2nd husband since I was 4 years old. (She remarried after my Grandad passed away) The reason she raised me was I came from an unstable violent home so she provided me with a safe/stable place to live. Fast forward 30 years and the property (my childhood home) which I moved out of at 18 was decided to be gifted to me mortgage free as a nest egg for my later years, in hindsight it would have been better to have left the property in the will however our knowledge of such things at the time was limited so it was believed to gift the property was the best option.
The property was always solely in her husbands name, mortgage and deeds however I believe my grandmother may have made payments towards it at some points. In 2016 my Nans husband gifted the property to me whilst they both continued to live there. My grandmother has sadly recently passed away and now her children are disputing the property ownership.
Her husband still lives at the property and will continue to do so until he passes. I am hoping to understand if the property ownership can be contested in anyway. It was not held in joint tenancy, it was solely in his name and she died with no will so her estate was handled via the Intestate rulings. Life insurance and her personal belongings have been divided amongst her children, however the property is becoming a bone of contention.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Flugelhorn

How did they actually give you the property? was the name changed on the LR or is it still in her step grandfather's name? Is there any written evidence of the gift?

Loski_18

Yes the name has been changed with the Land Registry, so the Title Deeds are now in my name. This took place in Dec 2016, both myself and step-grandfather had our own independent solicitors who worked together to achieve this.

Flugelhorn

then I suspect there is nothing anyone can do,

they may try to say he was coerced etc but if he had his own solicitors then that is some protection

just to be wary though, if he needs long term care at any point and there are insufficient cash funds then giving the property away may be considered as deprivation of assets, may not be an issue if there is money elsewhere

Loski_18

Okay thank you Flugelhorn, if there was any need for care to be put in place then that would be taken from the property as its only right. 

Keep_pedalling

Giving property away in your lifetime is a very good way of avoiding a challenge to a will, there is BA they can do about it.

Loski_18

Thank you Keep_Pedalling 

TBagpuss

I very much doubt that they have any claim. The property was never your grandmother's . She would have had a claim on it had she and her husband divorced, d if he'd died before her leaving her without adequate provision.
However, those things didn't happen.

It was gifted to you 5 years ago - presumably your grandmother was aware of this and did not seek to raise any objections or make any claim to  the property? 

So, the house is not part of her state and her children don't have any right to it. 

It's just possible that they might seek to make a claim that she, and therefore the estate, had a beneficial interest in the property based on her contributions, which might have allowed them to make a claim had it still been in your grandfather's name, but I can't see how they could make a claim now as he no longer owns the property. 

I would suggest that your grandfather considers writing a letter or brief statement confirming that the transfer to your name was discussed with and agreed by your grandmother and that he and she both wished you to have the house .  It might help in the event that they do seek to try it on or if they try to have another go in the event of his death. 

xylophone

But when the donor of the property dies, bear in mind that  if he has not paid  a market rent while continuing to live in the property, there may be IHT considerations for his estate.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm14301

https://www.taxadvisermagazine.com/article/gifting-family-home

getmore4less

Even with the GWR hanging over the estate the grandfather estate will have downsizing residential nil rate band available.

Think it will be £100k from time of gift and £175k transferable from wife.

The grandmother would also have had transferable from first husband to mitigate any taxable estate she had.

Loski_18

TBagpuss said:

I very much doubt that they have any claim. The property was never your grandmother's . She would have had a claim on it had she and her husband divorced, d if he'd died before her leaving her without adequate provision.
However, those things didn't happen.

It was gifted to you 5 years ago - presumably your grandmother was aware of this and did not seek to raise any objections or make any claim to  the property? 

So, the house is not part of her state and her children don't have any right to it. 

It's just possible that they might seek to make a claim that she, and therefore the estate, had a beneficial interest in the property based on her contributions, which might have allowed them to make a claim had it still been in your grandfather's name, but I can't see how they could make a claim now as he no longer owns the property. 

I would suggest that your grandfather considers writing a letter or brief statement confirming that the transfer to your name was discussed with and agreed by your grandmother and that he and she both wished you to have the house .  It might help in the event that they do seek to try it on or if they try to have another go in the event of his death. 

Thanks TBagpuss, I think that's a wise idea about the letter as it was my Grandmothers wish for the property to be gifted to me