Help with Deeds/Will Please

Mrs_Doubtfire

Hello everybody

I am 70 with 2 Son's and married for many years with their Dad.

My Husband has 2 daughters from his first marriage. One of whom has kept in touch and I like her.

My Mother strongly wanted her house (which we now own, that is mortgage free) to be passed to my 2 sons.

We have around 60k in savings.

I'd like to sign over the deeds to my Son's prior to our passing in future years. I trust them implicitly, so please bear in mind we have a close relationship.

I'd like to pass the deeds on now (to prevent them being left with any taxes when we pass, and essentially do this to make sure that only my Lads have the house.

Then I'd like a will declaring whatever our savings are at the point of passing to be split between my 2 sons, and my step daughter.

I don't want my step daughter to have any claim on the house whatsoever, hence the deed signing over.

Can you tell me, could I legally do this without much fuss?

Its an awful time for me to be sorting my affairs out but I want to make this happen now.

Please help.

Thank you 

poppystar

If you continue to live in the house then gifting it would have no impact on future inheritance tax.

What will happen if you need care in the future? How would that be paid for? 

There is nothing to stop you leaving the house in your Will to your two sons only. 

Are both you and your husband currently on the deeds or, as it was your family home, was it left exclusively to you?

Are you and your husband in agreement in agreement on how you want your assets distributed?

Do you currently have a Will? If not, a solicitor should be able to draw one up to achieve the distribution of assets as you want. They would also keep on record why one daughter has been left out so that there can be no claim by her on the future. 

poppystar

Also have you considered what would happen if either of your sons predeceases you or, if married, got divorced. A house in their name would be part of their estate and hence might have to be sold at that point to satisfy the requirements of their Will or divorce settlement.

Brie

This is the sort of thing to put in your wills. 

To hand the house over to them now would be foolish in a number of ways.  It could be considered deprivation of assets if you or your husband need the local authority paying for care.  And they could put a claim on it even if you no longer owned it.  

Also if either son is not already a homeowner it would ruin them ever getting first time buyer benefits of any sort.  And if either is/was married and then divorced it would need to be counted as a marital asset and potentially cause financial hardship for your son(s) if they feel they cannot sell it.

Personally I think the thing to do is to sit down and explain to your SD your need to follow your mother's wishes that the house go to your sons and not her.  Perhaps there is something special to you that you could give her instead (your wedding rings, other jewellery?)   

It strikes me that there is more to this than what you are saying. 

Let me imagine an unfortunate scenario where you are very ill and unlikely to live for long.  You have sole ownership of the house.  You could make a will that would leave the house to your sons with a life time trust (I think it's called) that would allow your husband to remain living in it as long as he likes.  There may be provisions to deal with maintenance etc (as in husband would maintain or similar).  When you husband dies or moves elsewhere your son's would have full possession of the house.  It would still affect any FTB rights they might have and there would still be the issue of divorce but a sale couldn't be forced if your husband has a right to live there.  At least that's my understanding.  And I do think you should talk to your SD so she understands and isn't surprised at a stressful time for the family.

A solicitor will be able to help sort out the details.

Keep_pedalling

Please don’t do this it won’t save any IHT (unless you would also be willing to pay them full market rent) and unless your total net worth is over £1M there would not be any to pay anyway. You will however leave them with a CGT liability which otherwise would not have existed.

maman

I agree with others that your wishes can be sorted out by a professionally drawn up will. 

But can you clarify whether you actually live in this house or whether it is additional to where you and your husband live? 🤔 Also, while I understand that these were your mother's wishes, how do you expect your sons to share the property if it's to be kept in the family? And what does your husband think of the plans? If you've been married for many years it's potentially as much his house as yours.