[Kate!]

So is there such a thing as a living will

Whereby you sign your property over to a relative before you die to avoid it being taken by the government if you have to go into care?

[thesheriff443]

I don’t it’s a living will, but there will be a way of avoiding care home costs in the same way people avoid inheritance tax.

[rusticgal]

Originally Posted by Kate!

So is there such a thing as a living will

Whereby you sign your property over to a relative before you die to avoid it being taken by the government if you have to go into care?

I am sure there is but I think there is a time clause of like 7 years...or something like that.

[user104658]

You can in theory but it's complicated. In terms of property it's actually simpler for the family member to get mortgaged for the house (if they can get one) and buy it officially in a private sale at rock bottom price from you, and then erm... get creative... with offloading the cash assets gained from the sale. Buying and gifting other expensive assets, for example.

Essentially no one will ask questions about a property if it has been SOLD, but they will consider it a deliberate "dodging tactic" if it's signed over without a sale.

[Kate!]

It just seems really unfair that if for example the lady did ever have to go into care her costs would have to be met by her assets thus leaving her son with nowhere to live when she has specifically left the house to him in her will.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Kate!

It just seems really unfair that if for example the lady did ever have to go into care her costs would have to be met by her assets thus leaving her son with nowhere to live when she has specifically left the house to him in her will.

If he lives there and it's not going to be any time soon she should get him named as a co-owner on the mortgage (if there still is one), they can't force the sale of a property asset to fund care if someone named on the property is still living there.

Only works if he resides there though which is why this doesn't work for most people looking to leave things to their offspring; if someone is named as a co-owner of the house but DOESN'T live there, they can still force the sale of "the other half".

Again the simplest solution is to privately "sell" the house well in advance of it becoming an issue. But that does rely on the younger person being able to get a mortgage (so stable employment, no significant financial issues in the last 6 years)

[AnnieK]

My brother now owns my dad's house. He sold it to him after my mum died as he was worried that the house is pretty much the extent of his estate and his own dad had lost basically all his money on care home fees (he lived till 96 so they took the house, his pension and all his savings).

If Dad had died within 7 years of my brother buying it there would have been some issues but we are out of that period now and so the house now belongs to my brother and we have a legal agreement that the equity that was in the house at the point my brother bought it will be split 50/50 after dad passes. If the house has significantly increased in value my brother will get the extra as he has obviously taken all the risk of taking on Dad's house.

It was never about the money - more about Dad having some peace of mind which he now has.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Kate!

It just seems really unfair that if for example the lady did ever have to go into care her costs would have to be met by her assets thus leaving her son with nowhere to live when she has specifically left the house to him in her will.

The family member can sign it over for instance a parent to a child, however the parent has to live for a further 7 years after the sign over, also the parent should get a clause put in that they live in the home while they are able, just in case the kid gets greedy and sells and leaves the parent without a place to live

The lady should get proper legal advice on this

[Cherie]

oh as Annie has said above!

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by AnnieK

My brother now owns my dad's house. He sold it to him after my mum died as he was worried that the house is pretty much the extent of his estate and his own dad had lost basically all his money on care home fees (he lived till 96 so they took the house, his pension and all his savings).

If Dad had died within 7 years of my brother buying it there would have been some issues but we are out of that period now and so the house now belongs to my brother and we have a legal agreement that the equity that was in the house at the point my brother bought it will be split 50/50 after dad passes. If the house has significantly increased in value my brother will get the extra as he has obviously taken all the risk of taking on Dad's house.

It was never about the money - more about Dad having some peace of mind which he now has.

Can you gift a house rather than buying it and the 7 year rule still apply?

Separate to that.

I have a friend and she is so paranoid about this....she's in her 50s, single and rents but has about £60,000 in savings but doesn't know what to do with the money, bit doesn't want the government to have it.

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by Cherie

The family member can sign it over for instance a parent to a child, however the parent has to live for a further 7 years after the sign over, also the parent should get a clause put in that they live in the home while they are able, just in case the kid gets greedy and sells and leaves the parent without a place to live

The lady should get proper legal advice on this

That's answered my question, thanks

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

Can you gift a house rather than buying it and the 7 year rule still apply?

Separate to that.

I have a friend and she is so paranoid about this....she's in her 50s, single and rents but has about £60,000 in savings but doesn't know what to do with the money, bit doesn't want the government to have it.

She can give 3,000 a year without any issues, bit young to be gifting though, if i were her I would be organising a world cruise on retirement

[ThomasC]

My parents really need to sit down with a solicitor to do their will because things become very complex with all my sister's complex needs. She can't manage money and can't ever be left alone...she needs support at all times and always will unfortunately. Things would be quite straight cut if it wasn't for her...I'm not saying that in any deragatory way, but that's the reality of it.

She will have to pay for her cae costs and they are about £4,000 per week!!! They will absolutely fleece her so it requires a specialist solicitor to complete the will and set up a trust fund whereby I will basically control her money...

They keep putting it off though and my parents are pension age coming up.

[Cherie]

This is a good article for you Kate pretty much straightforward as long as the person lives for 7 years, if time is of the essence I would be doing it now!

https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/mone...-your-children

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by Cherie

She can give 3,000 a year without any issues, bit young to be gifting though, if i were her I would be organising a world cruise on retirement

She doesn't want to gift her money away, it's knowing what to do with it...

She'd be too scared to go on a cruise or abroad.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

She doesn't want to gift her money away, it's knowing what to do with it...

She'd be too scared to go on a cruise or abroad.

Is she working? because once she stops unless she has a decent pension she will power through that money no bother, in fact she will probably need it come Oct to pay the energy bill

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Cherie

She can give 3,000 a year without any issues, bit young to be gifting though, if i were her I would be organising a world cruise on retirement

I was thinking that Cherie... honestly my advice to a single lady in her 50's with £60k in savings would be... ... enjoy your £60k, it's yours! I think that a lot about people getting older recently. Leave behind property and assets to inherit, sure, but the cash and savings? At some point I think you just have to say "**** it" and spend that money on living before it's too late to properly enjoy it.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Cherie

in fact she will probably need it come Oct to pay the energy bill

[Crimson Dynamo]

Im doing will stuff at the moment (me old mum died) but luckily my brother is a lawyer and his best pal did all my parents legal work so its one less headache.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Im doing will stuff at the moment (me old mum died) but luckily my brother is a lawyer and his best pal did all my parents legal work so its one less headache.

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Im doing will stuff at the moment (me old mum died) but luckily my brother is a lawyer and his best pal did all my parents legal work so its one less headache.

Ohh, sorry to read that.

Less that's one less thing to worry about for you

[user104658]

Jokes aside with what Cherie said actually, honestly with things the way they are right now I'd be keeping an excess pot of cash like that aside incase it's needed. Although also hard to recommend keeping large amounts as cash when inflation is way up, as it loses value by the day. But then investments aren't stable either. Not many good options right now

[user104658]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Im doing will stuff at the moment (me old mum died) but luckily my brother is a lawyer and his best pal did all my parents legal work so its one less headache.

We dodged a lot of the legal stuff when my mum died because my parents separated a good 15 years before she died... but never bothered actually divorcing and their separation agreement expired. So they were, technically, an actively married couple when she died (despite not having been together for well over a decade). Very much simplified inheritance stuff when it came to her pension pot and things like that because it all just defaults to the spouse in that case. Luckily my dad isn't greedy/a terrible person as he honoured her will and split what was rightfully my mum's in the separation agreement between me and my sister. It had long since lapsed and wasn't legally binding... he could actually just have kept the whole lot if he wanted .

Quite scary really as that money was the catalyst for us learning to drive and buying a car, my wife going back to study and thus her now-successful career, which in turn allowed me to get away from slogging at the bookies and skill up for my own career ... ... ... if he'd decided just to keep it my wife potentially wouldn't have her qualifications and I'd still be shouting at junkies all day. And panicking about soaring bills on a slave salary.

[Kate!]

Thanks everyone xx

[AnnieK]

Just to add Kate - when my Nan had to go into a home, I had to get LPA for her to deal with her finances (I was named in her will but as both executors - her partner and my mum had died I had to deal with everything) and they didn't "force" me to sell her property whilst she was still living. They basically put a charge on the house and so the council paid her care fees but once she did pass I then had to sell the property and pay the council off before I split the remaining estate between my brother and I. She was in the home for just over 2 years and the charge on the property was in excess of £50k!!! She was in a nursing home as she had dementia but it was a shock. They stop charging you the full amount when the money you have in savings / equity gets down to £23k and then when its get down to something like £13k you don't have to pay as they have to leave enough to reasonably cover funeral and estate costs.

I had to complete yearly audits and submit everything I had authorised her money to be spent on. One thing we did do though was pre-pay a funeral plan out of her savings and the LPA people approved that.

Its a minefield once you get into the whole paying for care.