Elderly relative ill and not sure what her son's situation might be

noitsnotme

poppystar said:

If there is no Will and therefore the estate would be distributed under intestacy then the step child wouldn’t in inherit anything AIUI, only blood children would so the problem you are concerned about would not exist. 

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/england-and-wales/no

Depends if they have been legally adopted or not by the look of it...

"Adopted children (including step-children who have been adopted by their step-parent) have rights to inherit under the rules of intestacy. But otherwise you have to be a biological child to inherit."

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/#:~:text=Adopted children (including step-children,not receive their inheritance immediately.

reheat

poppystar said:

If there is no Will and therefore the estate would be distributed under intestacy then the step child wouldn’t in inherit anything AIUI, only blood children would so the problem you are concerned about would not exist. 

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/england-and-wales/no

Thank you.

Keep_pedalling

So assuming we are talking about your BIL, he and your wife will inherit 50% each of their mother’s estate, the step child gets nothing. If your wife is happy for him to inherit her mother’s share of the house then she can do a deed of variation. 

reheat

Keep_pedalling said:

So assuming we are talking about your BIL, he and your wife will inherit 50% each of their mother’s estate, the step child gets nothing. If your wife is happy for him to inherit her mother’s share of the house then she can do a deed of variation. 

Spot on, many thanks.

reheat

noitsnotme said:

Depends if they have been legally adopted or not by the look of it...

No, not adopted.

Mojisola

reheat said:

Mother and son have lived in the same house for many years. House is owned by them 50/50, fully paid up, no mortgage.

Although they made a will a long time back, it never got signed because waiting until moved house ... but never did. So no will.

Mother is 90 and health deteriorated considerably recently. Carers coming in 4 times a day.

If Mother wants the son who lives with her to have full ownership of their home after her death and she is mentally capable, why not just change the ownership of the property to 'joint tenants' instead of 'tenants in common'?

reheat

Mojisola said:

reheat said:

Mother and son have lived in the same house for many years. House is owned by them 50/50, fully paid up, no mortgage.

Although they made a will a long time back, it never got signed because waiting until moved house ... but never did. So no will.

Mother is 90 and health deteriorated considerably recently. Carers coming in 4 times a day.

If Mother wants the son who lives with her to have full ownership of their home after her death and she is mentally capable, why not just change the ownership of the property to 'joint tenants' instead of 'tenants in common'?

Also interesting. Thanks.

Malthusian

Intriguing. Do you have a link for that at all please?

AgeUK has a good summary.

Sorry, confused by that. How could the mother transfer to the son what is already his? Typo?

Pretend for a second that the son is aged 59 at the time the mother goes into a care home.

If they bought the house together (with him contributing half the money and her contributing half) there is no way his half would be included in the financial assessment.

If she bought the house entirely with her own money, but transferred half to him many years before there was any anticipation she might need care, e.g. with the intention of giving him some financial security on her death, it would not be included in the financial assessment.

If she bought the house entirely with her own money, and transferred half to him in the hope it would reduce the amount she might have to spend on care home fees before the local authority stepped in, it would be included in the financial assessment under "deliberate deprivation" rules. 

In this case it is irrelevant because he is already over 60 and is already living in the house, so both halves are disregarded. It just illustrates that any decision should be entirely about how she wants to balance her son's financial security vs treating both her children fairly. 

It sounds like she is very close to the point she cannot really do anything about where her half goes in life or in death if her capacity "changes daily". Nobody can assess capacity over the Internet, but if she can't retain and process the information she needs to make a decision, she lacks capacity. A new Will or a change of ownership could both be open to challenge. 

But on her death he will have 75% of the value of a home big enough for two people (not 66%) with which to find a place big enough for one. 

reheat

Malthusian said:

AgeUK has a good summary.

Pretend for a second that the son is aged 59 at the time the mother goes into a care home.

If they bought the house together (with him contributing half the money and her contributing half) there is no way his half would be included in the financial assessment.

If she bought the house entirely with her own money, but transferred half to him many years before there was any anticipation she might need care, e.g. with the intention of giving him some financial security on her death, it would not be included in the financial assessment.

If she bought the house entirely with her own money, and transferred half to him in the hope it would reduce the amount she might have to spend on care home fees before the local authority stepped in, it would be included in the financial assessment under "deliberate deprivation" rules. 

In this case it is irrelevant because he is already over 60 and is already living in the house, so both halves are disregarded. It just illustrates that any decision should be entirely about how she wants to balance her son's financial security vs treating both her children fairly. 

It sounds like she is very close to the point she cannot really do anything about where her half goes in life or in death if her capacity "changes daily". Nobody can assess capacity over the Internet, but if she can't retain and process the information she needs to make a decision, she lacks capacity. A new Will or a change of ownership could both be open to challenge. 

But on her death he will have 75% of the value of a home big enough for two people (not 66%) with which to find a place big enough for one. 

Many thanks.

reheat

One other thought. When someone dies intestate, does that affect how inheritance tax is calculated? The mother's half of the property is about £350,000, and has around £25,000 savings. Could the son be in a situation, even though over 60, where he might have to sell the house in order to pay inheritance tax?