Dad and care home the rights to his house

[Bellabum]

Hi all my dad is going into a care home his partner died a few years ago of cancer and as she knew she was dying she got half of his house in her name with equity release and a TR1 and left her side to her kids not one of them has put a penny into that house as my mum paid for it before she died in 1999
but the thing is dad had early dementia then we are not bothered about a sale of the house at all as long he cared for
mum getting told lots of different things that only dads half will go towards the care home and some people are saying he still owns it outright and then whatever is left is then split HELP
has this happened to anyone else

Who are the people that are telling you he still owns it outright? Are they legal professionals?

If your dad and his wife owned a proportion of the house each (tenants in common) she could have willed her proportion to her own children but giving your dad a life interest in the property. This means that her part of the property can’t be touched to pay for your dad’s care. When the house is sold the partner’s children receive their inheritance.

How you unpick this I don’t know. I suggest you re-post in (or ask for this to be moved to) Legal.

A few points:

1. If a TR1 transfer was completed and registered with the Land Registry, and the partner genuinely became a 50% owner, then her share would normally pass according to her will (to her children if that’s what she left it to them).
2. If your dad only owns 50% now, then generally only his share would be assessed when the local authority looks at funding for care home fees. The council cannot simply take someone else’s legal share of the property.
3. However, if your dad had early dementia and lacked mental capacity when the transfer was made, it may be possible to challenge the transfer. Evidence would be needed, such as medical records and details of when the dementia was diagnosed. This is specialist legal territory.
4. Equity release complicates matters further. The equity release company will usually have a legal charge over the property, reducing the value available to everyone.
5. It is not correct to assume that because your mum paid for the house before she died, the property automatically belongs to your dad or his children now. Ownership depends on the legal title and any subsequent transfers.

Assuming the property is owned 50% by your father and 50% by his partner, then his partners share is hers, it can be willed to whoever she wants and cannot be counted towards his care costs.

His half can, theoretically be counted towards his care costs, but that's where it gets complex. the normal process is for the council to set up a DPA (deferred payment agreement) on the property, however that cannot be done without the consent of all owners.

Then there is the valuation of your fathers half for the councils purposes, 50% of a house where the owner of the other half is unwilling to sell is on paper much less than 50% due to the legal complexities of extracting the money.

Some local authorities will walk away from this and give a discretionary disregard to the property, others may go down the route of going to court to apply a charge on your fathers half, but if the equity release firm have a first order charge that will be more complex.

You really need to lay the facts out to the LA and see where they stand on things.

Surely it doesn’t matter?

the LA will need to sort it with the partner’s children. With respect, it’s your dad’s house, not yours.

presumably if the children want to sell then it will be, they will get their half, your dad his, and proceeds will be used to pay for care if necessary.

Do you know how much is owed on the equity release and do you have POA for your dad?

It presumably matters to the OP if she is handling her dads affairs.

In the ideal world the property can be quickly sold, the equity release charge paid off and the money due to each party paid out.

I’d think that would have been mentioned?

rereading the o/p the question seems to be whether the partner’s half will go to their children, or whether dad owns it and anything left over from care will be split. With the added complication that there appears to be equity release on the property.

those questions can’t be answered by MN. O/p and o/p’s mum will need to find the documentation, check the land registry etc to figure all this out. Where’s the money from the equity release? Was that just on the partners share or the entire property?

the question doesn’t seem to be about who has POA or makes decisions, but about where the money goes….

Do you have home insurance, @Bellabum ? Almost all home insurance policies include a free 24/7 legal helpline, even if you haven't taken out specific legal cover. I'd try that first of all. You'll get to speak to a qualified solicitor who can confirm what the situation is.

When I was dealing with my mum's property and her care debt, the lawyers on the end of my free legal helpline really saved my sanity. I could phone as often as I liked, and every one of them was empathetic and knowledgeable.

Their advice enabled me to know exactly where I stood before I actually engaged a law firm to handle it.

Was the equity release done after her death ? If that’s the case then it will need to be settled from your dads share and the balance remaining (if any) will be assessed for care needs - the LA will put a charge against the property so that when it is sold they recover the costs.

There is no way the LA can put a charge on a home jointly owned like this without the agreement of all parties. If the deceased partner did hold 50% that will be part of their estate, held either in the short term by her executors or later trustees if a life interest was granted to OPs DF

OP needs to check the land registry, that will show who the owners are and any charges placed, at that point the parties can discuss the way forward, probably the best way being to sell, settle charges and correctly divide the proceeds.