Parents transferring or putting their home in trust

dannim12345

My husbands parents have mentioned in passing a few times that they want to transfer him and his brother their property (or do it via a trust). They are maybe a bit naive so I’m a bit worried they won’t look into this enough or get a ‘talked’ into something they don’t fully understand.  

I don’t want him/us to be left with issues either.  They aren’t my parents so don’t have much influence. 

Any advise or anything I can mention if it’s brought up more seriously??  

England, house approx £250k and they are mid 60’s. We own a house.  

400ixl

Why do they want to, doesn't look like they will have an IHT issue.

Do a search and there have been a few threads recently pointing all of the reasons this is a bad idea.

Keep_pedalling

The reason people do this is nearly always to avoid paying for care cost, there are no sensible reasons to give your home away either directly to your children or to put your home in trust. It’s is a very bad idea and should not be attempted.

RAS

There have been numerous threads here where parents have been sold trusts to avoid care costs, and IHT bills that weren't even possible.

These have often left the beneficiaries with huge tax liabilities and fees which would have been avoided by simple wills, perhaps severing the tenancy and leaving a life interest to the surviving spouse.

Even worse if the house is transferred to the children before the first death. If any of them get into financial difficulty, apply for means tested benefits, or divorce, they and sometimes the parents re left in precarious situations. 

FreeBear

Keep_pedalling said:

The reason people do this is nearly always to avoid paying for care cost, there are no sensible reasons to give your home away either directly to your children or to put your home in trust. It’s is a very bad idea and should not be attempted.

The only people that really gain are the "legals" setting up and overseeing the trust. And if the local authority think that it is just to avoid care costs, they can go to court to unwind the deal.

dannim12345

I suspect / assume to avoid care house costs.  I know from here it’s not a good idea but it’s how to say that / what to do when I do not have much influence on them.  I will read up some more 

Bookworm105

dannim12345 said:

I suspect / assume to avoid care house costs.  I know from here it’s not a good idea but it’s how to say that / what to do when I do not have much influence on them.  I will read up some more 

the phrase used is "deprivation of capital"
also bear in mind the discussion is about means tested care home fees paid for you by the council.

- if you never end up claiming from the council then the trust was a total waste of money anyway
- even with a trust in place, councils can still take legal action to set aside the trust and refuse to pay the fees 

here is a random google result for you to read...
Can I use a trust to avoid care fees? - STEP UK (advisingfamilies.org)