Mother wants to put her house in a trust. Advice?

[fishtank12345]

Hello

My mum does not want her husband to be able to sell her house as she wants my kids to have it ( im an only child) so she wants to make a trust will and name me as trustee but her husband will need to live there until death if she goes 1st ( she is older than him )

I do not like this man. He has has only ever financially abused my mother and currently has a lot of debt in his name.

This is not his home land she worries he will sell up and go back home with all the money and he doesn't deserve to be able to take it all and run.

Advice welcome ? Also if we are trustees then does he need to be as well? As I imagine that just would be crap too.

How long has she been married and has she made a will

and do you think she’d think about leaving him in the future.

You’ve literally just described a trust, so that would in fact be a trust to have any legal standing.

Given a will trust will only kick in after OP’s mum dies, I suspect she’ll be past needing care at that point.

Kick him out then and sell the house. If there’s no trust he has no interest in the house and you don’t have to house him just because your mum asked you to.

In actual fact my Mum changed her mind but didn't feel up to making another will and I would have had to organise all that which might have looked a bit ropey.
Anyway, I would advise Op to see if her Mum would put in her will that the Husband can stay for a limited period, such as 1 year. In our case he has to remarry, die or agree in writing and if he moved into a home he could still hold things up by not agreeing in writing. I did have his POA but his Daughter took that over so she would have to agree to us selling the house and we barely know her

Please don’t post on legal if you don’t know what you’re talking about.

A life interest trust (which admittedly the PP called a lifetime interest trust, but was clear it was a will trust) is NOT the same as a life interest trust into will.

But as others have said - see a a solicitor OP

Nonsense. If there's any suspicion of pressure being applied (or any danger that that is an accusation that could be made at any court hearing) then one would always make sure one sees the testator alone. Basic good practice. Particularly in this case.

This is estate planning

Totally normal for family members, beneficiaries, to attend meetings with solicitors! The OP’s mother has full capacity.

at the point she’s deemed as not having full capacity, then the issue of influence comes into being. However, the op presumably will get POA well before that happens

Mortgage lenders don't like trusts. So the mortgage would need to be cleared on death before any life interest trust can be registered.

Alarm bells would be ringing her. A daughter is getting very involved in a parent's will. Particularly one that may not provide for a spouse and it sounds like potentially may be contested. Any solicitor would seek to see the mother alone. It's basic good practice/covers ass.

Estate planning - very very common practice for family to attend. I did it with my father and siblings, my cousins have done with their parents and my closest friend and her mother is planning to.

if an individual has full capacity, then this isn’t a issue.

He could sell the house to buy another one if this is not detailed in the trust. My DM set one up in her will which stated my stepfather could remain in the house until he remarried or cohabited, or died. So he could have sold it and bought another property (this enables the person living there to downsize of get a more suitable property). There was also a few sentences about him being responsible for the maintenance of the property. When he went into care, the house was sold and the proceeds paid to me as the executor of my mums estate.

Get legal advice about what @Hoppinggreen says.

If it is ‘his’ in any way he could sell it and go off with the money.That happened to someone I know. The other person was supposed to have the house for their lifetime only ( tgat was in the will) but nothing stopped the other selling and getting the lot.

My parents have done this , each has put theit own half into a trust, so should one end up in a home the other gets to live in the house, they can’t be forced to sell to pay for fees. The house can be sold after they are both dead to pay for anything they owe, but no one is being made to move. I think it is a good thing, the last thing they need at their advanced ages, is to be forced to live from the house they’ve lived in for 45years up to now. It was all done by a solicitor, I don’t think you should advance any further till you’ve had legal advice.

My adult child owns the house they their partner and I live in. I gifted it to them 20 years ago, as I could no longer be arsed to manage the upkeep, though I was/am happy to contribute to its upkeep.

my adult child's Will states that the house cannot be sold after she dies , if it's before me (goodness forbid) unless I consent, but that it will be owned by their partner and I'm allowed to live there rent free.

might be a bit risky I suppose, as their partner could object after adult child's death. but given that the three of us have had a pretty good relationship for those twenty years, I'll take my chances.

your circumstances are different though. I think I'd consult a solicitor.

But the OP has said that this is not an immediate post-death interest trust:

"So she still has a mortgage with a few years left and they said they cant put house in a trust because of that... bummer."

I read that as it was suggested to her that she put the house in trust now rather than as an IPDI. I don't really see what the benefit to her of doing that would be.

If it were an IPDI then it wouldn't matter either way if she had a mortgage or not. The terms of an IPDI are generally expressed as something like "my share of the property free of any mortgage, debt or charge secured thereon".

So, it is only the value of the property after any mortgage etc has been paid off.

I thought that if you lived in it without paying the market rent you would be deemed to be getting benefit from it and therefore not to have given it a way.

Was there a legal way round this?

@ScrollingLeaves I kind of do pay rent. I pay all utilities and more than my share of the upkeep of the house.

Isn’t this a bit unnecessary. You can’t be forced to sell your house if your spouse goes into a Local authority funded care home whilst you are still living in it.

I over simplified it, or it’d take up pages, lol. They are other reasons too. I just wanted to direct the op to seek legal advice.

I thought she was talking about post death (ie what her mother is thinking about putting in her will) and there were suggestions of a life interest will trust. So the mortgage would need to be paid off before the house goes into trust. As lenders don't like trusts in my experience.

Well I obviously wouldn't question your professional judgement. But one of the first things asked in a LvN letter if the husband contests is who else was in the room at the time instructions for the will was taken. If there's any possibility that a will could be contested then belts and braces would mean see the testator alone.

But obviously each solicitor makes their own decisions as to how an interview is conducted so I can't give a view on how you do yours.

Indeed

You really really need to find a good family lawyer who is experienced setting up this sort of trust via a will.

A few hundred pounds now will save so much money and hassle on your mother’s death. Death of a parent is bad enough, without dealing with a nasty man who might assume he has a right to inherit your mother’s house.

Her DH needs to know nothing about your mother’s will. It is her private document. The solicitor will keep a copy for her.

If she thinks he was going to sell up and move back to his home land- why does he need a lift time occupation order?

He could have anyone round to stay!

Why not 2 years?

Then it comes to you or grandkids -

Does she have separate savings?