House for one pound

0ldBoy

hello, I'm knocking on a bit and not in the best of health so would like to pass my home to my 19yr old niece. Can I sell it to her for one pound?

TadleyBaggie

Deprevation of assets come to mine here.

daveyjp

If its valued at £1 you can.  However selling at a significant undervalue may bring problems further down the line,

TheJP

Would you continue to live in the house after you have sold it for £1? What if the niece evicts you as she wants to live in her house? It does sound like you are trying deprivation of assets due to your health which is unavoidable should you need assisted care.

Gavin83

0ldBoy said:

hello, I'm knocking on a bit and not in the best of health so would like to pass my home to my 19yr old niece. Can I sell it to her for one pound?

Where will you live?

If the answer is still in the same house this opens a whole host of potential issues. She'll lose her FTB status and she could find herself in the situation where she has to sell the house and make you homeless. Divorce, debt....

There's also the deprivation of assets issue, which given you're in poor health and you're selling for a £1 is a potential problem.

ThisIsWeird

Hi OldBoy.

Who will look after you when you cannot do so yourself? Do you have savings that could cover, ooh, 10 or so years in full time care? If 'yes', then it might not be an issue passing your house on like this.

But, if your house is your main asset, and you sell it off cheaply like this and then require care, expect to be asked questions about your assets and savings. In essence, they'll want to know where your house went, and how come you don't have the money in the bank to help with your care. If they deem you have intentionally 'deprived yourself of your assets', and now expect the tax payer to cover the cost of your care so that your niece gets a free house, expect them to not be pleased, and they could well chase your niece for this money instead. 

And I think most folk (unless they wish to attempt the same trick) would consider it rightly so; this is your money, and for your use and care. It is not for others to pay for your care in an already-creaking system, so that one of your family gets a nice gift. If anything is left after you pass, then great for them. If not, then tough - there should be no expectation.

Keep_pedalling

It would be frankly stupid for you to do this, it would certainly be treated as deliberate deprivation of assets should you need residential care, you could loose the roof over your head should she run into financial difficulties, pre deceases you or she could simply kick you out (it has happened to people)

Just make a will and make her your major beneficiary to your estate. Arrange an appointment with a solicitor to do this, do not attempt to DIY your will it is too important to take risks with,

user1977

0ldBoy said:

hello, I'm knocking on a bit and not in the best of health so would like to pass my home to my 19yr old niece. Can I sell it to her for one pound?

You can sell it to her for 1 pee. Or nothing at all. Or you can pay her money to take it off your hands. All of this is legally possible, but I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve, especially if you're still living there.

FreeBear

Keep_pedalling said: Just make a will and make her your major beneficiary to your estate. Arrange an appointment with a solicitor to do this, do not attempt to DIY your will it is too important to take risks with,

Preferably a STEP trained solicitor. Don't use one of these free or low cost will writing outfits.

Think carefully about who you appoint as executors. Having a solicitor take on the role can avoid arguments from the beneficiaries, but the costs could eat up a sizeable chunk of the estate.

Another reason for not selling to the niece for £1 - She will get severely clobbered for Capital Gains tax when she sells the property.  GTX allowances are being cut to £6,000 in April, and will go down to £3,000 in 2024.