House inheritance - transfer ownership

timan · 14 January 2019 at 4:30PM

My mother died a year ago leaving her house to my sister who currently lives there and £100K residue money to be split between us.There are no other beneficiaries. I applied and got Probate last year. I moved up to live in this same house to support my sister as mum was terminally ill and after she died sorting the estate. A year later and I'm still here. Wasn't that bad as I was wanting to make a fresh start anyway.

There was no inheritance tax to pay as it was under the threshold. We get on fine together and have agreed to make a Deed of Variation of the will. I've checked this out with the court and HMRC online. Its done by writing a clear signed statement setting out how the will is to be changed. As the house and money are equal we agreed I would have the money and she would have the house. She is claiming JSA income based and couldn't inherit money before being over the limit to claim. I recently claimed and got JSA Contributions based ie not means tested. So I can receive this for six months even inheriting the money. Then I may lose it of course and accept this as fair.

Sister wants to move to a nicer area and there is a house for sale at £100k which I might be able to buy with my money. We would then both move in there. But if she then sells this house (that we currently occupy) she would be over the limit for her JSA claim. And I imagine it could be complicated if she then had to pay me the £100k. Claim might be stopped and then restarted etc.

So we discussed this together. She is happy for me to amend the will such that I inherit both this house and the money. But reading about this I would have to pay £3k Stamp Duty when I buy the other house as I'd own two... However I read that if we JOINTLY own this house then I wouldn't have to pay the £3k Stamp Duty buying a second home. This is because the rule is designed to make it easier for those inheriting a property jointly to be able to buy a home solely their own. I guess I should read a bit more about Stamp Duty. Are there any good sites to check? I ask because I'm about to apply to the Land Registry to change the ownership of the current house we live in to both of us.

getmore4less · 14 January 2019 at 4:56PM

My mother died a year ago leaving her house to my sister who currently lives there and £100K residue money to be split between us

As the house and money are equal we agreed I would have the money and she would have the house

She already has the house.

Any DOV to avoid loosing benefits is deprivation of assets.

Mojisola · 14 January 2019 at 5:12PM

timan wrote: »

My mother died a year ago leaving her house to my sister who currently lives there and £100K residue money to be split between us.

We get on fine together and have agreed to make a Deed of Variation of the will.

As the house and money are equal we agreed I would have the money and she would have the house.

She is claiming JSA income based and couldn't inherit money before being over the limit to claim.

If she gives away £50k in order to keep her benefits, she will just be assessed as if she has received that money and will end up with no benefits and no inheritance.

timan · 14 January 2019 at 6:05PM

I should clarify. I am executor and although Probate has been granted none of the assets have been transferred. The house is waiting for transfer of ownership through the Land Registry. The money is in the executor's account and none has been distributed. I don't understand how 'deprivation of assets' applies as my sister has not received anything to date. I.e she hasn't had it to give away yet. The transfer of ownership hasn't yet been done.

Mojisola · 14 January 2019 at 6:23PM

timan wrote: »

My mother died a year ago leaving her house to my sister who currently lives there and £100K residue money to be split between us.

timan wrote: »

I don't understand how 'deprivation of assets' applies as my sister has not received anything to date. I.e she hasn't had it to give away yet. The transfer of ownership hasn't yet been done.

She was left the house and half of the cash in the will - that's her inheritance.

Signing a DOV to give away the cash is a clear case of deliberate deprivation of assets.

The DWP will see the original will as well as the DOV and will sanction her accordingly.

Keep_pedalling · 14 January 2019 at 9:58PM

She is assessed as having that money from the date of your mothers death, when it is actually transferred is irrelevant.

Yorkshireman99 · 15 January 2019 at 5:11AM

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

She is assessed as having that money from the date of your mothers death, when it is actually transferred is irrelevant.

And should have already been declared to the DWP.

Mojisola · 15 January 2019 at 9:57AM

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

She is assessed as having that money from the date of your mothers death, when it is actually transferred is irrelevant.

Benefits are usually only affected from the time the inheritance arrives in the claimant's bank account - as long as the estate distribution hasn't been unduly delayed.

Keep_pedalling · 15 January 2019 at 10:14AM

Mojisola wrote: »

Benefits are usually only affected from the time the inheritance arrives in the claimant's bank account - as long as the estate distribution hasn't been unduly delayed.

In this case they have been unduly delayed in an attempt to delay it indefinitely. The OP could have distributed the estate last year.

House inheritance - transfer ownership

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