Grown child living in home legal ramification for parent

ddcrangle

I still want to be living alone on documents but my son is now living at my address and contributing to bills and repairs. What should I do to keep my status?

marcia_

ddcrangle said:

I still want to be living alone on documents but my son is now living at my address and contributing to bills and repairs. What should I do to keep my status?

What Status? Extra characters 

vacheron

What are you looking to achieve? Reduce council tax, retain benefits?

LightFlare

ddcrangle said:

I still want to be living alone on documents but my son is now living at my address and contributing to bills and repairs. What should I do to keep my status?

Kick him out then - if someone is living with you and financially contributing to the household finances, then you aren’t living alone under any level of description- especially as he is a family member

You “may” be able to use the living alone description if said person was a lodger/tenant with appropriate paperwork to prove it.

As above - for what reason do you wish to use “living alone”. ?

Ayr_Rage

ddcrangle said:

I still want to be living alone on documents but my son is now living at my address and contributing to bills and repairs. What should I do to keep my status?

You'll have to tell porkies or kick him out.

HouseMartin567

Is it your own home or a council/housing association home?

itsthelittlethings

As above, what documents are you referring to? It will be different for different things. Ie for universal credit you can still be living alone, for council tax you cannot.

Jude57

ddcrangle said:

I still want to be living alone on documents but my son is now living at my address and contributing to bills and repairs. What should I do to keep my status?

I'm not sure what documents you're talking about but if it's to avoid the authorities knowing for some reason, you should be aware of the following.

 It's an offence to fail to declare an additional adult resident for Council Tax purposes if you are claiming either Single Occupant Discount or Council Tax reduction. It's also an offence to fail to declare an occupant on the relevant date for Electoral Roll purposes. That may also affect your son's credit file because lenders check Electoral Rolls to verify an applicant is resident at the address given in their application. Potential employers or future landlords may also check residence via the Electoral Roll. It's an offence not to declare a person present on the relevant date for Census purposes. All the above have potentially severe penalties including fines and even criminal proceedings. You must be aware that if you're claiming any means tested State benefits you are required to inform the relevant authorities of any change in circumstances and this could also affect disability benefits if you're claiming any of those.

There's a possibility that your home insurance could be affected and if you needed to claim but hadn't reported a material change in circumstances, your policy could be voided and your claim denied. 

You should also be aware that, if your son is contributing to repairs, he's potentially building a beneficial interest in the property which, if you intend him to inherit it, may not be a problem but issues could arise if he marries or has a civil partnership and that relationship breaks down because the spouse may also have a claim on your property.

I'm sure there are other things you should consider before deciding not to declare your son as living with you and no doubt other posters will identify those. If you want advice specific to your situation, you'll need to provide more details.

Sea_Shell

It's a little sad that all of the above needs to be thought about and considered, before allowing an adult child to move back into the family home.

So "businesslike"

Pollycat

Sea_Shell said:

It's a little sad that all of the above needs to be thought about and considered, before allowing an adult child to move back into the family home.

So "businesslike"

I don't think it's sad at all.
If someone is receiving benefits - and the OP hasn't said if that's the case or not - then they should not be duplicitous about their circumstances.

The OP has not explained what they mean about 'living alone on documents'.
Or about their 'status'.

twopenny

I guess I understand what you mean about business like but it sounds like it's not a temporary stay and it's 2 adults with legal responsibility.

That means that while the son is lucky enough to move in with his mum in time of need he is grown up with responsibilities and it's a good learning curve.