Does anyone know about will and estate planning- SCOTLAND?

[ssd]

In Scotland- I want to ensure my house in doesn't get taken by care home fees and i also want to ensure my half of the house goes to my kids when i die, not my spouse, although i want him to be able to live in the property.
Can anyone advise me?

Think you need a solicitor. That sounds like you need to set up a trust and put the house into that.

I was hoping someone on here would give me a heads up first

You need to put a trust in place. If you own the property with your spouse then you need to change land registry to tenants in common and leave your respective shares to children but each have a right to reside. Doesn't need a solicitor any will writing company can do this for you

First of all, how is your house owned? If you are joint tenants, then the house will automatically belong to the survivor upon the first death. The survivor can then leave the house to whomever they wish via their will.
If it is owned as tenants in common, then each owner’s share can be willed to whomever they choose. This is a simple thing to set up via a solicitor. Both owners sign an agreement (Trust) which indicates the split of ownership as TIC and wills are drawn up to indicate what happens to the house when you die. You can include the proviso that the survivor is able to remain in the property until they remarry, cohabit or go into long term care.

The council's are pretty clued up these days on deprivation of income.

ssd I know this is in Scotsnet, but you need to very clearly put SCOTLAND in both the title and the OP. Lots of posters don't look at the topic. Report the post and ask MN if they can amend.

Why do you think you shouldn't pay your own potential care home fees?

Leave it to someone else to pick up the bill every month?

My parents did this through a company calked McClures which went bust. So moved to inheritance legal.

My dad died 3 years ago & it has been an administrative nightmare since.

And unfortunately I'm not sure it will achieve what they originally wanted.

I worry about my mum ending up in one of the shittest care homes as it might look that she has no assets, whereas if that's needed I'd rather she was somewhere decent & paying for care.

I've done this. My house is in a trust and has to run for at least 7 years before anything can happen. It will go to my 2 children and my OH will have a "life rent" which means he can live in it for as long as he needs. Thereafter it will belong to the kids.

It was all set up by my solicitor and was fairly easy to do.

My surviving parent did this and it paid off …you need to speak to a solicitor, there’s no other way

MN makes me laugh with all the false outrage at people making plans to hopefully avoid being ripped off for care -until it happens to THEIR family!

I know it's not what you're asking but take advice about how this might affect your future housing options if you are left on your own and unable to continue living in your house due to frailty.

On both sides we have ended up with an elderly parent who couldn't manage living in the family home and had to sell up and move.

FIL was left on his own 200 miles from any family and wasn't coping, us co-ordinating care from afar was a nightmare. He was able to sell up and move to a modern flat near us with space to still have rest of his family to stay with him. We live in a more expensive area and no way could he have afforded to do that if he only owned half his house value.

My DM couldn't manage the stairs any more and so sold the family home and bought a modern, ground floor flat with its own little garden, again it was more than half the value of the 3 bed family home.

Most people won't end up in a care home however many people in their 80s+ struggle to live on in the family home with stairs, garden etc.

If you already live in an expensive house then it's not such an issue but just something to think about and get advice on

@FeeChee if a life rent trust is set up it doesn’t mean you can’t sell the house and buy another if that’s what you’re meaning about restricting future housing choices/needs

It was more about only owning half the house.
So if OP's house was worth 300k and her DH had died and left the rest to the children, if she needed to move she would only own 150k of the house which isn't a lot to buy somewhere else and pay all moving costs particularly if she may be moving to a more expensive area to be nearer family

My parents signed ownership of their house over to my brother and I years before they were likely to require care. (The 7 year rule has never been tested in court, I believe, but it was definitely pointed out to us that it could be tested at any time). Could you consider doing the same with your children? Is your spouse on board with the whole idea? It cost us about £800 in legal fees (a few years ago) and I'm planning to do the same for my own kids.

@Giddygoose26 look into life rent trusts rather than signing over. If you sign the property over, the “owner” will be liable to capital gains tax when they sell, which isn’t the case with a trust. This is why my parent went down the trust route.
A friend was caught out very expensively with CGT

Not a solicitor, an estate planner. There is a huge difference. If you want accurate, legal advice from a qualified person, OP, you need an estate planner.

I guess that depends on the size of their estate? My parents have both since died and we paid no CGT.

Lots to consider here and reported @Chasingsquirrels , thanks

Be careful ! Friend had a trust … don’t know details but her son and wife split up and his ex wife was claiming half the house. Caused so many problems and in the end lots of money was lost to lawyers sorting it out.

Also consider if you sign your house over to your child and they want to move house themselves, they could find themselves having to pay second property tax.

How come @Eastcoastie?

My parents were advised not to do it because of this risk or something similar. But there are more than 2 of us. The risks outweighed the potential benefits.

If you sign your house over to your child then your child owns the house so if they buy another house they are liable for additional stamp duty.
Also if they sell one of the houses they are liable for CGT

Also if you sign your house over to your child but retain a right to live in it the local authority will regard this as "deprivation of assets" for care purposes.
You also need to consider all possible scenarios if you sign the house over - for example (sadly) your child might predeceased you and the house would then pass to their spouse or child.

Do you have proof of the council doing this @Timetodownsize?