Tenants in common

wetlesen

My husband died in 2021 of dementia, we put our property in tenants in common to avoid nursing home fees, some years earlier. I am still living in said property. He died at home. I’m nearly seventy and on pension credit. We released £25,000 from the equity but I am in a less than favourable financial situation and would like to release a little more, am I able to do this in anyway even though there is a trust in place?
thank you
Leswet

Brie

Who is the trust for?

sammyjammy

So who earns your husbands share of the property according to his will and the trust?

Marcon

wetlesen said:

My husband died in 2021 of dementia, we put our property in tenants in common to avoid nursing home fees, some years earlier. I am still living in said property. He died at home. I’m nearly seventy and on pension credit. We released £25,000 from the equity but I am in a less than favourable financial situation and would like to release a little more, am I able to do this in anyway even though there is a trust in place?
thank you
Leswet

Who inherited your husband's share of the property when he died?

Unless you inherited it, then it isn't yours to sell, I'm afraid.

Emmia

This is one of the downsides of trusts...

Keep_pedalling

Presumably this was a an immediate post death interest trust, which leaves you as the beneficial owner and the legal ownership is split between you and the trust. 

Unfortunately I don’t think you are likely to be able to get any further equity out of the property with the trust in place. It may be possible to undo the trust and leave you as the sole legal owner but that would require the agreement of the trustees and you willingness to put yourself first ahead of any potencial beneficiaries.

The only way to find out for sure would be to speak to a broker. 

wetlesen

thank you for bothering to reply everyone, the trust is in my daughter's and two stepchildren’s names! I’m a bit scuppered then I guess!

OutdoorQueen

Just checking that you are claiming the single person discount for your council tax? 

If you have any long term health needs or difficulties, then a claim for Attendance Allowance might be worth considering.  You don’t need to have a care package in place.  

https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/information-guides/ageukig49_attendance_allowance_inf.pdf

As you claim Pension Credit, you meet the criteria for applying for cheaper broadband deals.  https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/compare-broadband-deals/broadband-social-tariffs/
Although if you are in a current contract, you may face cancellation charges if you swap early.  

Marcon

wetlesen said:

thank you for bothering to reply everyone, the trust is in my daughter's and two stepchildren’s names! I’m a bit scuppered then I guess!

As KP suggested above, have a word with a broker specialising in equity release (or go back to whoever arranged the £25K equity release). The house is presumably worth considerably more than £50K, so there could be some scope for a further tranche - but the existence of the trust will limit that scope.