Friends wants to sell up and buy with a friend 300 miles away, what legal advice does she need?

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My friend, G, is getting on and has had some heart problems in recent years. She has just floated the idea with me of selling up and putting the proceeeds towards a house in a very expenisve town a long way away from us with a fiend she has met in recent years. He has a wife and children, their rent is £1300 a month and they cannot afford to buy.

She has lived in her house for many years, knows all her neighbours and is well plugged into the local community. She hasnt been to this other city.

I know the guy a little, he seems nice, but it seems like an awfully big move and commitment so I suggested she get legal advice. But actually I have no idea what for!

IDK if its the plan, or if its unsaid, that they would care for her in her later years. I would miss G. I already do a bit for her. What advice should she seek? She's quite stubborn but would listen to me I think.

What would happen if the friend of your friend died, or got divorced, or went bankrupt? Or if your friend needed to go into residential care, how would that be funded?
Lots of 'what ifs?' basically

I can't think of a worse situation for her. So she buys a house and they live in it? Or do they buy together with unequal shares? Does she really think his wife wants that? His wife may perhaps want her own home but she sure as hell wouldn't want another woman living in it. As your friend needs help further on, who will give that to her? She won't know anybody apart from this couple. If they are seeing her as just a route out of the financial problems that is a huge thing.

And yes, of course, if your friend needed residential care later then would she make that couple homeless?

Other thing is, are they hoping to benefit from her buying the property in the event of her death? Are they using her?

I don't have legal advice but it does sound as though your friend might be being taken advantage of.

Even if all intentions are good, does she really want to live with a family including children? If the house had a completely separate annexe she could live in, it might be OK, but as it stands, she is always going to be last on the list of people to be considered.

It just sounds like a bad idea all round.

I'd worry about this. It was, to me, telling that she hasn't discussed with other friends because they'd "judge". I think secrecy is not good in this context.

So would the house have to be sold if that happened? Hadn't thought of that, thanks.

Sounds like a very bad idea and you're right to be wary.

Questions she needs answering:

What would happen if this friend stopped paying the mortgage? (A: she would be joint and severely responsible or would potentially have the house repossessed, I think).

What if this family need to move again: for work or extended family or because an accident leaves them needing a wheelchair accessible house? She would be out to expense and upheaval and may not want to go to the new location.

How does she protect her asset and investment? This can be done by a Deed, but basically if you move from your own house into a bigger shared house and years later separate out your finances your share of the bigger house won’t now buy you the equivalent of your original house.

What if she eventually wants to live in a more accessible house or not with teens or whatever? How can she move without leaving them homeless?

Does she have Dc? How can she leave them any inheritance if it is tied up in someone else’s home?

What’s in it for her?

What’s in it for them?

The whole thing sounds really dodgy.

I do think the family are nice people, and from a family orientated culture where multi generational living is common. The kids are young adults. G has no family left, no children.

Multi-generational living is one thing if it's your own family and you're all used to one another's quirks and foibles, and there's an underlying family bond and love there (not saying all families have this but assuming you would if you opted for multi-generational living) - it's another thing if the people aren't related.

If G. is insistent on pursuing this, it's imperative that she gets her own legal advice. I am assuming she can afford to pay for this, so she needs to arrange an appointment with a solicitor and cover off every eventuality - what would happen in the event of any party wanting to end the arrangement, what would happen in the event of any party's death, what would happen in the event of any party defaulting on the mortgage or other household bills; what would happen in the event of any party needing to move into residential care, and probably other eventualities I haven't thought of.

Even if the family are nice it could turn disastrous.

What shops if G dies
What happens if G goes into a care home
What happens if they fall out
What happens if one of the other family member dies or needs care
What happens if one party can't pay
Or they other couple divorce
The other couple want to move
They retire and want to downsize
They want to release some equity
Someone gets offered a job abroad

The list goes on, I don't know how old they are but they need to consider the next 50 years could look very different to now.

Yes, she's early 70s so could be around a while, so lots of change could happen in that time.

Of course, her house would have to be sold if she needed care. And really because she is on her own. She needs to make sure she gets bloody good care as well. If she is in her 70s already, they need to factor that in unfortunately I think they just see $

She wouldn't be part of the multigenerational family though. She isn't part of the family at all. Presumably she hasn't spent much time with them as they don't live near her. All she is is a bank. And who wants to live with their bank manager?

And next they will encourage her to change her will to leave everything to them!!

This sounds like a terrible idea. So many potential problems! Can't see any benefit for your friend at all.

A clear consensus thanks all.

I think the benefit for her is leaving her decrepit house behind!

I can’t imagine a mortgage lender would be willing to approve a loan in this situation. Her age would reduce the term that the mortgage could be repaid and the lender would ask all the questions that others have posed about the future. The “nice” family probably needs a cash injection to purchase and see your friend as a way to get that. I’d be really worried for G as this has the potential for scam/abuse written all over it.

That is a great point about approval from a lender. I am kinda looking for 'neutral' objections so she doesn't accuse me of prejudice and dig her heels in,but pauses and considers coolly.

Does she understand the difference between tenants in common and joint tenants? That’s quite fundamental - it’s whether you equally and jointly own the property or have a defined share or proportion of it. A lot of mortgage lenders won’t consider joint tenants (which would be the type of ownership she would need here). I bet if you start asking her about the difficult things that it might make her realise this is very risky for her. The family will be in a very advantageous position so I’m sure they would be keen to persuade her.

Why not encourage her to move to a retirement community. Whilst they are overpriced etc, they do have benefits which would address her loneliness and ability to maintain a property.

This sounds like it could be coercion - she is potentially going to be buying a house for people she doesn't know well and living with them in it, presumably under the condition that they look after her (otherwise what's in it for her?) and get the house when she dies (otherwise what's in it for them?).

How does she know these people? Her never having visited their city in itself has red flags - she's never seen their house but is happy to live with them. As it's 300 miles away she is also potentially open to abuse - no support networks apart from them.

As PP have said, if she needs residential care either the entire house or her share of it (depending on how it's divvied up) would need to be sold to pay for it. I'm not sure she can gift a share of the house to them whilst she's alive as it might be seen as deprivation of assets. It would be better if they could buy a share from her I think. Also they could potentially be in a vulnerable situation - she could make a will leaving them the house and then make another one later without telling them leaving it to someone else.

I would have thought a decent solicitor would warn her off.

I do know of someone who had very helpful neighbours, would do anything for her and it soon became apparent that they had noticed her children never visited and were being solicitous in the expectation that the house be left to them in the will. When she made clear that wasn't going to happen they stopped helping her and indeed speaking to her. I am not saying all people who help others are like this, because they aren't but it usually doesn't take that long to figure out which sort they are. If she puts the brakes on and they turn nasty she'll have her answer.

This is a good idea. It's my own retirement plan, having no one to leave a house to.

Oof, no. She doesn't see herself as old, doesn't conform, and would hate somewhere segregated like that.