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.

That's up to her of course. It's her will and her assets.

Yup but the OP needs to know what she is getting into.

Stop now please. Thank you 😊

Thank you but I have no intention of buying him any kind of property. Its my house and when he dies or goes into a home I will be able to sell it

Ok my friend didn't lose out, he got some of his inheritance much earlier than he would have and got the rest when he sold the new house. He was responsible for maintenance of the large old original house, I don't know if that's normal, so his inheritance had been costing him money for some years. It worked out well for him.

It's the equity in the house that goes into the trust. It doesn't matter what the property is. So you could downsize from £500k house to a £200k house. The £200k house and the £300k in the bank would all be in the trust.

A life interest is the right to income from any property in the trust (or whatever you chose to go in the trust) and the right to live in any trust property for life

A life interest will trust is different from an occupation trust which just gives someone the right to live in a property for as long as they want or until another contingency eg remarriage. It's often better to use this one if there's potentially care fee assessment as there's no right to income.

No he can only live there
I had a conversation with my Mums Solicitor (who did the will) after her death to se what my rights and responsibilities were and also with my own solicitor when I transferred the house into my name.
It must be an Occupation Trust, I just really wish my Mum had put a timeframe on it - not just for me but for him as living in the house isn't really in his interest as well.

you needn't read or respond but you are not the thread police.

It will be in his IHT estate. Would that make a difference to him/his children? As a method of encouraging him to leave? Although perhaps your mum wanted him to have a secure home for life. Tricky.

Not a lawyer but I don't think it will be part of his estate for IHT as he does not own it at all.
My Mum DID want him to have a home for life but for the last year or so of her life she changed her mind but not her will. She actually thought he would be better in a home for a variety of reasons and I agree BUT thats not my decision to make. It was arranaged that I had his POA so I could be more involved in the proceess (I would not have chucked him out but began a slow transition) but somehow his daughter managed to get that set aside and she now has one for him instead. She has made some suggestions that could be seen as a bit "blackmailey" but I am in no hurry, I can wait until he dies

No of course not. I wouldnt dream of it. But as so often happens on these.legal threads, the "advice" non qualified people give is often not the advice a professional would give. And the unqualified person doesnt understand why their advice is perhaps incorrect or inadvisable to follow. And perhaps it might confuse people and if people followed such advice it might lead to a bad outcome and expense putting things right. Which means the thread was less useful.

But of course you must do as you see fit snd of have the last word, of course.

An occupation trust does unfortunately mean that the value of the trust is in his IHT estate even though he has no house to give away. The same way a life interest trust is. So depending on the value of the house this will eat into his nil rate band so he can give less to his daughter tax free. Worth mentioning to her?

Thank you, I will look into it but I doubt even with the house it would break £325k
Although I don't really know how much money he has .
Interesting idea though

I don't know what sort of trust it was I just know they both had solicitors and they worked it out. The person I knew, used to work together, was a bit wary but it worked out better for them. I suppose trusts and circumstances vary, I know a family who are trying to sort something similar out now but having real difficulties. It obviously seems to be a nightmare.

I don't know what sort of trust it was I just know they both had solicitors and they worked it out. The person I knew, used to work together, was a bit wary but it worked out better for them. I suppose trusts and circumstances vary, I know a family who are trying to sort something similar out now but having real difficulties. It obviously seems to be a nightmare.

Yeah , mum worked hard to get him back. Its true.

So she needs an occupation trust ? Sorry its all so confusing to me.

Could she do this and specify a time scale for him living there ? Incase she wanted to think about that, she briefly brought up on Friday about saying he must move after 1 year to free the house, but I dont particularly believe she will actually do this. I do hope.

No one on MN can advise you specifically according to your own circumstance unfortunately as someone will need to take instructions from your mum. A solicitor will know what is appropriate according to your mother's own circumstances. I suggest your mother sees the solicitor alone if possible too so you can't get accused of undue influence if the Will is contested (they will ask for that to happen anyway if your mother is older or vulnerable..thats no insult to you, its just a precaution). If you go on the Law Society website you can find a reputable solicitor in your mum's area. Or the Society of Willwriters or Institute of Professional Willwriters often have retired or non-practicing solicitors acting under their regulations. It should be a fairly straightforward Will but definitely needs to be done professionally.

See my post above.re none of us being able to give you advice on this.

Having said that, your mum needs to be prepared to make proper provision for her husband (depending on his own ability to support himself or buy a.house) so an occupation.trust.in place for only a year is unlikely to be enough. A spouse has significant rights in a marriage.

The point of a ‘life interest’ is that it’s for the rest of that person’s life. Exceptions like if the person marries again etc can be stipulated.
It’s good your DM is going to see a solicitor because she can then tell them what her wishes are, and the solicitor will be able to discuss the circumstances properly, get the relevant facts and information from her and advise her as to how it will work, and what her options are. If she wants to provide him with a home for his lifetime, but actually leave the home to you after that, then she can do that. Or whatever other options she wants to explore, she needs to discuss with her solicitor.
This whole matter needs to be between your DM and her legal adviser, no one else has a say in it. It is about her decision and how she ensures her wishes are carried out if she dies before him.
It’s out of your hands OP, there’s nothing for you to do about it, it’s up to your mother what she wants to put in place.

OP are you actually confident your mother went to this solicitor?

The only advice I have given is for the OP to take her own legal advice and not to trust what her mother is telling her.

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Unfortunately her mother's solicitor has a duty of client confidentiality. Are you recommending the OP spends money engaging a solicitor that will advise on how someone else (not their client) should draft their will about an inheritance they may or may not receive? On information that her mother may or may not agree to supply? No solicitor will agree to act in that capacity I suspect.

I repeat my previous post.