Mum wants to gift her house to me

comeandgo

If she is going to see a solicitor they are not tax specialists so I would not expect them to have that knowledge.

Gavin83

RAS said:

OP, does your mum understand that if

you die before her
you need care yourself
you have to apply for means-tested benefits
you divorce
you go bankrupt

your part-ownership of the house could become very problematic. It's not anything you intend or expect, but none of us expect to divorce, have a stroke etc

I used to work in this area and I've seen some real horror stories involving someone signing over their house to their kids, with the elderly person in question ending up homeless. Having put themselves in this situation in an attempt to defraud the council they then, without any sense of irony turn up on the councils doorstep expecting to be housed. I have zero sympathy but unfortunately the council does have to help.

A lot of people would say it wouldn't happen in their scenario too, until it does.

Another thing to note. You'd be surprised the amount of children who kick their parent out of their own house in such a scenario so they can free up the cash for themselves. People can treat their family horribly when a bit of cash is involved.

RAS

I'm yes. I recall one charmer whose mum did that. Moved in GF and put mum in the annex Sold both and bought a new property hundreds of miles away where they would "look after her." Last I heard she was in a residential caravan in the garden whilst he's spent his way through most of the proceeds.

The OP wouldn't do that but if she died and hubbie remarried, it could happen.

Stateofart

Transfer then live in for another 7 years paying the new owner appropriate rent is the rule I believe.

RAS

Stateofart said:

Transfer then live in for another 7 years paying the new owner appropriate rent is the rule I believe.

Rather pointless since the estate falls under the IHT limit as far as we know

njkmr

Ok looking at it from another angle. 
This forum is full of people telling us how much they pay into their pensions to avoid paying a higher tax rate so they can keep more for themselves. Also the fact that this skimming off of their earnings then attracts a nice slice of top up from the government for being so well off and smart..? By  government , I mean other tax payers like most of us that is.
How come this is not frowned upon?
Is this not burdening the lower end tax payers who can't afford to put tens of thousands of spare cash into a pension to attract government money ? And increase their wealth at others expense.
Just a thought.

paul2louise

Sea_Shell said:

paul2louise said:

The house is a bungalow worth less than 300k, similar property with more work done it on is on the market for £280k. 

To be honest, all the more reason NOT to fiddle around with ownership.   50% of a much bigger (more expensive) house, would stand less chance of being exceeded by care costs.

 

Does she have much cash savings?

Yes she has some savings and money in investments 

Sea_Shell

paul2louise said:

Sea_Shell said:

paul2louise said:

The house is a bungalow worth less than 300k, similar property with more work done it on is on the market for £280k. 

To be honest, all the more reason NOT to fiddle around with ownership.   50% of a much bigger (more expensive) house, would stand less chance of being exceeded by care costs.

 

Does she have much cash savings?

Yes she has some savings and money in investments 

At the end of the day, only you and your mum know if she'd have "enough" to cover her care, if that cash is added to 50% of the value of her home, and how long it might last.

But that's just the financial aspect.

You have to bear in mind the "unforeseen" circumstances that can also come into play, as eluded to above.

You know how blurry the lines can get between family and money, as your dicing with inheritance issues shows ☹️

Exodi

njkmr said:

Ok looking at it from another angle. 
This forum is full of people telling us how much they pay into their pensions to avoid paying a higher tax rate so they can keep more for themselves. Also the fact that this skimming off of their earnings then attracts a nice slice of top up from the government for being so well off and smart..? By  government , I mean other tax payers like most of us that is.
How come this is not frowned upon?
Is this not burdening the lower end tax payers who can't afford to put tens of thousands of spare cash into a pension to attract government money ? And increase their wealth at others expense.
Just a thought.

So 'another angle' is the same point you made before, just with more words this time.

I really don't know the mental gymnastics you have to go through to conclude that because salary sacrifice exists, it therefore makes it OK to have your parents deprive themselves of assets so the taxpayer is forced to pay for their care. That said, I'm not wet enough behind the ears to think that I'm somehow going to convince you in a couple of back and forth replies that deprivation of assets (a criminal act) is wrong, as you already mentioned that you have a horse in this race. It is hard to vilify ourselves, it's human nature.

If you would rather keep diverting attention to foreigners, or people on benefits, or the tax-avoiding fat cats like a journalist for the Daily Mail, then sure, do whatever helps you sleep at night. This is clearly a circular debate between us, the continuous diversions from you have grown tiresome; I've said what I wanted to and I think the OP got a range of different opinions to form an informed view.

SVaz

Making the most of tax incentives to ensure your standard of living in later life, thus saving taxpayers money by not needing benefits or LA funded care , is NOTHING like trying to avoid paying for your own care when you have the assets to use but you’d rather give it away.   

Plus, Those with massive pensions and equally massive drawdown sums will pay lots of income tax, some of it at 40%.  

People are, as always, conflating the IHT rules and what counts as Deprivation of assets,  the two have nothing to do with each other.

Martin should definitely do a show on how foolish such plans are.