Care home fees and joint tenancy.

popey1

My parents, Dad 94 and Mum 87, own their house as joint tenants.

My Dad also has shares to a value equal to the house.

Rather than go down the route of Tenants in common, would it be effective to transfer the house to my Mum and write new wills, my Dad's shares to his beneficiaries and my Mum to will the house to hers ?

Thanks in advance.

SVaz

Effective for what purpose?  

You can’t avoid care fees by trying to be ‘clever’,  certainly not at that age. 

The house is disregarded for care fees as long as one of them live in it,  it’s irrelavent how it’s owned. 
Half the shares value will also be disregarded, assuming only one of them needs care. 

If Dad has a larger pension and is, in effect supporting Mum financially then half of that is also disregarded. 

Surely investments equal to the value of a house means plenty of money available for any care needs?  

Keep_pedalling

Is your father likely to need residential care in the near future? What is the value of the house?

I am not quite sure what you are trying to achieve here, but it if you are trying to maximise the amount available for care costs for each of them this is a pointless exercise. If your father requires residential care then the house will not be included in any financial assessment as your mother will still be living there, and in the event of your father’s death your mother will have the house to fall back to fund her care costs.

poseidon1

popey1 said:

My parents, Dad 94 and Mum 87, own their house as joint tenants.

My Dad also has shares to a value equal to the house.

Rather than go down the route of Tenants in common, would it be effective to transfer the house to my Mum and write new wills, my Dad's shares to his beneficiaries and my Mum to will the house to hers ?

Thanks in advance.

You have provided no context or rationale to explain what you ( rather than your parents ) are trying to achieve here.

On the assumption parents' current wills leave everything to each other and then to children on 2nd death,   what exactly are your concerns with that arrangement?

Is this some kind of misguided IHT planning or as intimated by SVaz a  simple  (but equally misguided ) attempt to avoid nursing home fees?