What should my mum do?

[WillWorries]

Any thoughts on the lengthy saga below are much appreciated :)

My mum bought a house and rented it to me.

My mum and step-father sold their own house and bought a house in the same town as me.

Mum discovered that step-father was being unfaithful so they bought a flat for him back in their old town.

All of the properties are owned outright, there's no mortgages.

The house I live in is in my mum's name only and comes to me if she dies.
The flat my step-father lives in is in his name only and goes to my mum if he dies.
The house where my mum lives is in both their names. If step-father dies first, his half passes to my mum. If my mum dies first, her half passes to me.

Mum is worrying and wants to make sure that if she gets very poorly and goes into a care home, that the house where I live isn't sold to use to pay for her fees and I become homeless.

What options are available to people in this situation please? Which sort of solicitor do you need? I've only rented before so am really unsure of what I need and which bits of what I said above are relevant anyway!

You need to see a solicitor who does property conveyancing

Your mum needs to gift the house you live in to you so that you own it outright.

Or she can sell it to you at a vastly reduced price, but there may be some legal issues with that.

Agree that she needs to see a solicitor.

Definitely one for a solicitor. There's no limit on how far back you need to have given a property away for it to be considered a deprivation of assets. The fact that it's a second home might work in her favour if she were to give it to you and still have her other house.

I'm not sure of the rules but you could maybe look at a lifetime tenancy. My grandma had a lifetime tenancy in a house that came as part of my granddad's job. He died at 65 and the company (owned by a wealthy family) let her live there until she passed away 25 years later. When she died the tenancy ended and they were able to sell the house. Not sure how it would impact care fees though as the council will only help with funding once your capital is under around £23k and if the house is her it would still be her capital.

Ah thanks very much :)
I shall look out for a conveyancing solicitor then! Hopefully I will find one that doesn't mind breaking it down for me.

I think people don't realise that the council don't just put people in care homes these days. They wait until they're virtually dead first 🙄.

My auntie is self funding now because the council said no, even though she was desperately ill so she is using the last of her savings.

Believe me, if your mum gets old and ill you will not want her to stay in her home until the council agree to pay

Ah do you know what, I think I misunderstood your question. Please ignore my post!

@Kitsmummy

I think people don't realise that the council don't just put people in care homes these days. They wait until they're virtually dead first 🙄.

My auntie is self funding now because the council said no, even though she was desperately ill so she is using the last of her savings.

Believe me, if your mum gets old and ill you will not want her to stay in her home until the council agree to pay

Exactly.
Being able to self fund is a luxury - at least you can choose the time and place, and not have to depend on social services. Who typically will often wait until family doing their best to care are on their knees with stress and exhaustion.

I knew of someone who became so desperate, she told SS that if they didn’t do something now, she was going to take her relative (with dementia) to A&E, and just leave him/her there. And she meant it.
Only then did they act.
Of course it’s nearly always down to SS understandably trying to keep costs down, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

Your Mum has a few things to consider:

Will: does her will set out her wishes regarding her properties? If not, then all the properties may pass to your step father when she dies.

Her husband: are they married, are they likely to divorce and if so, if he entitled to half of the marital assets including the property you live in?

The property you live in: if you pay rent, does she need this income? Is it similar to what you would pay in a mortgage? How are your interests protected should she die, should her partner claim his share, should she need to fund her own care? Is there a reason she has not already signed this over to you?

Care provision: there are options around buying a policy to cover costs from the proceeds of property which might protect the property you live in.

Your mother should seek advice on all of these issues.

If your Mum does not want to pay for her own care then she will have to face the fact that she will probably end up somewhere pretty grim.

My Dad was self funding and the homes which took mainly council funded residents were places where I definitely would not have wanted my Dad to be.