Change to Will, possible Deprivation of assets or other implications

arthur_fowler

Current situation is that my MiL is housebound and has council-funded 4 times per day care visits. She has only a small amount of money herself and a tiny pension. She jointly owns the house with her husband (my FiL). Due to his deteriorating health, they are both going to move into a care home in the next few weeks. My FiL has around £100k in cash as well as a decent pension.
They will need to sell their house (value approx £300k) to pay for the care home for both of them. Bluntly we don't expect either of them to live more than a year (but who knows).

Current will is pretty standard in that the surviving spouse inherits nearly everything and then on the death of the second person, the money goes 50/50 to their two children.

If my FiL were to change his will so that his wife does not inherit anything but instead it all goes to his children (the remainder of his cash + half the value of the property which would have been sold by then), could that be considered to be deprivation of assets? What other considerations could there be (e.g. tax).

Keep_pedalling

No it won’t be considered deliberate deprivation of assets, but I don’t think it is in your MILs best interests if she survives in care more than a couple of years and starts to run out of money to continue self fund. These are after all marital assets 

Does FIL still have all of his mental faculties? Are they both claiming attendance allowance?

Brie

If it's truly his money (not in a joint account) and he's of sound mind then I suspect he could change his will.  I don't know how they will look at his wife only getting half the value of the house if they own that jointly.  Being sold it would be their money (like a joint account) not one or the others.  

The concern too would be what happens if MiL has no money to continue to pay the home after FiL's death?  Will the council move her to a really cheap place for her final days?

But I am not an expert on this - hopefully an expert will come along shortly.

itsthelittlethings

Who is going to pay for your mother’s in laws care? Has this come from your mother in law or father in law?

Baldytyke88

arthur_fowler said:

If my FiL were to change his will so that his wife does not inherit anything but instead it all goes to his children (the remainder of his cash + half the value of the property which would have been sold by then), could that be considered to be deprivation of assets? What other considerations could there be (e.g. tax).

They are married, so surely the money belongs to them both. I believe it would be quite normal to leave his half of his assets to his children.

arthur_fowler

Keep_pedalling said:

No it won’t be considered deliberate deprivation of assets, but I don’t think it is in your MILs best interests if she survives in care more than a couple of years and starts to run out of money to continue self fund. These are after all marital assets 

Does FIL still have all of his mental faculties? Are they both claiming attendance allowance?

FiL does have mental faculties yes. 

I don't know if they are claiming attendance allowance. 

Your point about her funding running out is a valid one. She had a major stroke and is bed bound, no movement and very little speech or ability to recognise or respond to interactions. Over recent months her condition has further deteriorated. The likelihood of her surviving long is limited. Of course this argument I have just made erodes the value of changing FiLs will.

arthur_fowler

Brie said:

If it's truly his money (not in a joint account) and he's of sound mind then I suspect he could change his will.  I don't know how they will look at his wife only getting half the value of the house if they own that jointly.  Being sold it would be their money (like a joint account) not one or the others.  

The concern too would be what happens if MiL has no money to continue to pay the home after FiL's death?  Will the council move her to a really cheap place for her final days?

But I am not an expert on this - hopefully an expert will come along shortly.

Would it have to be their joint money? Could half the value be in his account and half in hers? Not everyone has joint accounts.
Thanks. 

arthur_fowler

itsthelittlethings said:

Who is going to pay for your mother’s in laws care? Has this come from your mother in law or father in law?

Until the house is sold, FiL will temporarily fund her care.

arthur_fowler

Baldytyke88 said:

arthur_fowler said:

If my FiL were to change his will so that his wife does not inherit anything but instead it all goes to his children (the remainder of his cash + half the value of the property which would have been sold by then), could that be considered to be deprivation of assets? What other considerations could there be (e.g. tax).

They are married, so surely the money belongs to them both. I believe it would be quite normal to leave his half of his assets to his children.

Sorry don't understand. FiL has his own money now and social services don't take that into account for MiLs current care package. 

bobster2

It's not "deprivation of assets" that's a concern. If FIL leaves nothing for his wife in his will then it's the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975 that could be an issue.

However, if she gets half the proceeds of the house sale - either because it's sold soon and the proceeds split. Or because they are tenants in common and she has her half to fund her care after FIL passes away. Then failure to provide for a dependent may not be a problem.

arthur_fowler

bobster2 said:

It's not "deprivation of assets" that's a concern. If FIL leaves nothing for his wife in his will then it's the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975 that could be an issue.

However, if she gets half the proceeds of the house sale - either because it's sold soon and the proceeds split. Or because they are tenants in common and she has her half to fund her care after FIL passes away. Then failure to provide for a dependent may not be a problem.

Thank you, that's not an area I have ever heard of. So it sounds like MiL could make a claim that she hasn't been adequately included in his will. From the limited amount I have read, it's not something that the a third party (council) could claim nor is it a legal matter, but rather a basis for someone to challenge the will (which wouldn't be the case here). Does that sound right?