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Mortgage free gift

8 replies

Anunusualfamily · 04/05/2022 21:04

Hiya, I’m not quite sure where to post as this could fit different topics as it’s complex.

The short story…..can my granny gift my mum (her daughter) the money to pay off her mortgage?

The long story….I’ve lived with my 90year old granny for the last 7 years after working away as a nurse. We have always been close and she was always there for me. I make an effort to make sure she is well cared for. 10 years ago she was diagnosed with dementia it’s been a very slow decline but she continues to be active, attending groups, gardening needs support with some personal care but is moderately independent although requires supervision.

She is very fortunate to receive a private pension and is financially secure and has around 80k in savings. I don’t pay rent but I do pay the bills and provide daily supervision and support, I also work part time as a senior nurse.

She’s not originally from the UK but moved here from Spain where her extended family still live and we are in the process of thinking about nursing homes in the village she grew up in…..she can get fixated about being there which makes her stressed, and although it will be a huge loss to me I know that in the longer term she would be happier with Spanish speakers. it’s easy (ish) to go and visit (she has a house in the village where we could stay) plus lots of relatives in the village. In contrast we live very rurally with just myself and my mum close by so it can be quite isolating and she’s much happier around people. Nursing homes are also significantly cheaper than the UK so would be able to cover the cost with her pension so not overly worried about deprivation of assets for Uk nursing homes. She’s also under the threshold for IHA but if this changed that’s ok. Our public services need to be paid for imo.

my mum has about 50k on her mortgage she works minimum wage nights and is nearly 60. She provides care for my granny 2 days a week and takes her to day centre 2 other days. If she could reduce her mortgage she’d be able to work less and be able to see my granny more and be able to have her own time too. My gran pays for her petrol and also her food shopping.

it seems crazy that the money just sits there doing not very much and my mum is struggling so much which my granny absolutely wouldn’t want her to be. unfortunately she doesn’t have capacity to make this gift but we do have a registered financial and health power of attorney which we got many years ago.

has anyone been in a similar situation or know if this is possible?

I understand that a lot of the protection are in place to prevent any abuse and I completely agree with this.

OP posts:
Sunseed · 05/05/2022 07:32

I think the short answer is no. Is it you or your mum who has the power of attorney? You are in a position of trust and you should not make gifts to benefit yourselves (unless it's been specifically stipulated in the POA document).

Isonthecase · 05/05/2022 07:37

I think you can do gifts for big occasions (eg 60th) that are in line with what they would have done previously and up to a few k a year every year. As I understand it, the important thing is the precedent.

bigbluebus · 05/05/2022 07:58

Has your Granny made a will and does it leave everything to your DM?
If there are other family members and no will then any 'gift' could be contested by others.
I'm not sure about the terms of a POA but the attorney giving themselves a large sum of money sounds like it would be outside of the terms for obvious reasons!

MyJobisNotOuting · 05/05/2022 08:11

No

It is financial abuse and deprivation of assets.

Anunusualfamily · 05/05/2022 08:16

My mum and I have joint and separate POA and the will leaves everything split 50/50 between my mum and I.

thank you for your replies, yes I thought as much and understand the reasons why. It seems such a shame to see my mum struggle with the increased prices and working so much whilst her mum has so much in savings sat in an account.

OP posts:
Bearsan · 05/05/2022 10:29

It is a shame that it wasn't all sorted when she was able but some of the money will be yours if you are getting 50/50. Don't be guilt tripped into giving up part of your share when the time comes.

pbdr · 05/05/2022 10:32

Absolutely not. Using PoA to give yourselves a large financial gift of her money which your Gran doesn't have the capacity to consent to would be illegal.

Daisy62 · 05/05/2022 10:42

I wonder if it’s possible for your mum to be paid a carer’s wage for the hours she looks after your granny. Might it be worth consulting a solicitor about that? There’s a discussion about it here, with some links to government info.
Paying family carers

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