UKC

Bit hypothetical. My Mrs has been left her late sister's half of the house in which brother in law now lives. If BiL has to go into care and has to sell house to pay for care am I right in saying that late sister's share of house cannot be used to pay the said care fees?

In reply to mypyrex:
Depends. In theory not. But your mrsmay decide she has a moral obligation to pay for her bils care .

In reply to mypyrex:
Were they married and living together when the sister died?

In reply to Mike Stretford:


Yes

In reply to neilh:


Under the(confidential) circumstances - No

In reply to mypyrex:

Social services will ask details, most of which are based around who lives in the house. Does your Mrs live there? I suspect not.In which case I suspect there will be a large amount of haggling over the proceeds.It will not be clear cut.

In reply to mypyrex:

As a matter of interest, why should I as a taxpayer be asked to pay for your BiL's care fees when he and his wife had enough assets to pay for them - and no dependants?

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Who is suggesting that you pay them? I certainly wasn't.

In reply to mypyrex:

Yes you were. Who else do you think will pick up the tab if it can't be taken from the estate?

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Isn't the situation that the BiL now only owns half the house and that would be used to pay for his care.
However the other half mypyrex missus now owns so presumably has nothing to do with it.
But I guess the only issue is where it is thought the disposal was to avoid liability but don't really see that.

But I guess that the will and original ownership must figure in this.
They must have been tenants in common and not joint tenants.

The taxpayer can still use the BiL half to fund the BiL care.

In reply to mypyrex:

Whatever savings or property that is worth over £15000 your BiL has will be used to pay for his care home fees. So you will be in the situation of either buying him out (at the market rate for the property) or selling the property. A visit to Citizens Advice is recommended.

In reply to m0unt41n:

The la will probably take a legal charge over the property unless it is sold.

When did your wife take title to the 50%?was it very recent or say 7 plus years ago?

In reply to neilh:

+1

In reply to mypyrex:
If Bil has paid his national insurance throughout his working life, then I am happy for your wife to keep her inheritance, and for my portion of NI contributions to be used in keeping him in care for his old age. He's already paid for it.
Enjoy your windfall whenever it may arrive.

It's quite common now for couples to own a house as tennants in common (half each) but for older couples wasn't it more usual to just have joint tennancy. Are you sure she was able to leave half the house. Might be worth checking before the fighting starts.

In reply to elsewhere:

I would be more concerned about your tax bill as this is a gift that has been past to your wife So she may have some form of liability. I assume she declared it on her tax returns ? If not I would get some tax advice first .

In reply to neilh:

The level of uninformed and potentially upsetting advice on this thread is woeful.

In reply to Skyfall

The whole area is a "minefield" and you will note I have said get advice . I am going through the same issues with my parents at the moment ( like alot of people). To get clear cut answers on anything to do with care costs is horrendous. Its now more complicated because of the cap which comes in ,and most people cannot give you straight answers .

And yes it is scary.Because if you make the wrong ill informed move it cannnot be rectified.

In reply to Skyfall:


Since a climbers forum is not the first place you would think of when wanting to get expert legal and tax advice then I suspect that mypyrex is likely to take comments as being helpful suggestions rather definitive statements to be immediately acted upon!

In reply to neilh:

The share passed to his wife as a legacy, not a gift. Only potentially taxable on disposal.

In reply to mypyrex:


Correct.

In reply to mypyrex:
>> Were they married and living together when the sister died?


I think you are getting some uninformed advice.

As we'd expect it is complex (page 7)

http://www.firststopcareadvice.org.uk/downloads/kbase/3091.pdf

You need legal advice, I believe it will depend on how it was set up before your wife's sister died.

In reply to streapadair:

And with carecosts being an issue, I assume the bil may have to sell the house as required at some stage by social services, so there maybe a tax liability. All in all, complicated.

In reply to neilh:


Yep. Some councils are getting quite aggressive when it comes to what they see as "deprivation of assets"

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Factsheets/FS40_deprivation_of_asse...

Legal advice required.

In reply to mypyrex:

As others have said, establish whether the house is owned as Joint tenancy or Tenants in Common as a starting point.

In reply to Mike Stretford:

That is a good read... Age Uk produce good stuff.

I keep talking to people who think , "I will just move assets around". It is not simple..quite rightly so---- and you probably need to have done it years ago.

In reply to m0unt41n:

Posters just shouldn't give advice when they don't know what they are talking about. As for the good side of this site ... I've seen plenty of useful advice on finance from those who do know their onions.