Mother buys half share in stepfather's home

PirateKing

My mother re-married and moved into stepfather's home and paid half share to him. She paid a 50% share of current market value but is this unfair? Should she have paid 50% of the purchase price? Now both are moving into a nursing home and 50% of house is now in trust so will our side of the family loose out when that 50% is divided amongst the 2 families?
PK

sammyjammy

Wow, getting your priorities right?  Your mother paid the half share of the house, what she paid is really none of your business but if she paid current market value that seems fair.

Do you know how ownership of the property was dealt with?  Presumably you have no idea what her will says so you've lost nothing.

breaking_free

50% current market is fair. 

tightauldgit

Whatever she paid is really up to her, but in general if you are buying something then you pay the current market value for it, not what it was worth X years ago when someone else bought it. 

Keep_pedalling

Who had put their share of the home in trust? Your mum’s half should be paying for her care and her husband’s for his care. If he put his half in trust that will almost certainly be treated as deliberate deprivation of assets unless he has plenty of other assets to pay for his care.

lookstraightahead

Market share.

although it should be irrelevant to you.

prowla

Presumably her half will appreciate with the market value of the house and so her estate will be worth no less than if she'd just kept the money.

prowla

sammyjammy said:

Wow, getting your priorities right?  Your mother paid the half share of the house, what she paid is really none of your business but if she paid current market value that seems fair.

Do you know how ownership of the property was dealt with?  Presumably you have no idea what her will says so you've lost nothing.

Judgemental post of the day!

sammyjammy

prowla said:

sammyjammy said:

Wow, getting your priorities right?  Your mother paid the half share of the house, what she paid is really none of your business but if she paid current market value that seems fair.

Do you know how ownership of the property was dealt with?  Presumably you have no idea what her will says so you've lost nothing.

Judgemental post of the day!

Why thank you, I make no apology for it.

TBagpuss

It was really up to her and your stepdad how they arranged things, but assuming that she paid 50% of market value at the date on which she bought hershare, that would be fair - why would she pay less than it was worth at the time she bought her share? 
 I am nt cler where the trust comes in but assuming that you mum and step dad own as tenants in common, then your mum would have 50% which she can leave by will (Less any care costs she may have to pay) and step-dad's half will go by his will.

Of coruse if they just own as joint tenants then whichever dies first will have no share in the hoseu to leave by will, as it would pass automatically to the survivor, so unless they made wills where by they both leave eveything to be split between the childnre on both sides, you may find that it isn't split at all. 

SallyDucati

So both mother and step father own 50% of the property.  That seems entirely fair. 

If she had paid less the 50% of the market value I can imagine your step fathers family would be crying 'unfair', unless the amount she paid gave her a less than 50% share.

However I'm a bit confused about 50% in trust.  Is that SF's share, or is the trust also 50/50?

Either way your Mum is entitled to 50% of the house.