Can Dad use some of Mum's share of the house to buy another one?

[virg]

My Mum is now in a care home and my Dad still lives in their home. My sister has raised the subject of Dad moving house as she says that it is now too big for just him.

I think Mum and Dad are tennants in Common (but could be wrong but know that they both have a share in the house). If Dad were to sell the house, I'm not sure that his half of the capital would be enough to buy another house. Could Dad use some of Mum's share to buy a smaller house and if so, would there then be a charge against the house for Mum's care? I believe that if he doesn't move, the house is not counted as an asset for Mum until he dies or is this incorrect?

Any advice would be most welcome.

 

[Lowlander]

My Mum is now in a care home and my Dad still lives in their home. My sister has raised the subject of Dad moving house as she says that it is now too big for just him.

I think Mum and Dad are tennants in Common (but could be wrong but know that they both have a share in the house). If Dad were to sell the house, I'm not sure that his half of the capital would be enough to buy another house. Could Dad use some of Mum's share to buy a smaller house and if so, would there then be a charge against the house for Mum's care? I believe that if he doesn't move, the house is not counted as an asset for Mum until he dies or is this incorrect?

Any advice would be most welcome.

This problem seems to crop up quite a lot. It was my concern too when left recently with a too large house to run on my own.
I have asked various bodies about it and nobody knows the answer basically.
If your father has P of A then there would not seem to be a problem with using some of your mother's money to put towards another house, with her share being registered, as far as the OPG are concerned, because he's still acting for her benefit.
Any house is disregarded as long as the spouse lives in it.
The LA would count her remaining money towards care.

If I were to do this, I would get a solicitor to write to my LA to make sure they would allow this to happen, and get confirmation in writing (in triplicate!)

I don't have any legal knowledge which is probably dead obvious.

 

[FifiMo]

You are correct in that once the house is sold your mum's assets have become liquidated and become up for grabs by the Local Authority. They are unlikely to consent to using the money to reinvest if the purpose is to avoid them accessing the funds for care costs.

As they are registered as tenants in common it means that they own 50% share of the house each. As long as this arrangement exists then your mum and dad can manage their share independently. Your dad can will his share to one person and your mum, theoretically, can will her half to the dogs home if she chose. The difficulty for the LA is that they can't really put a charge on half a house and can't put a charge on your dad's half. So, to protect your inheritance your dad should stay put as the house is disregarded and the value of your mum's share only comes up for grabs if the house is sold. Would it not be possible for the family to help your dad to stay where he is? You could badge this help as an investment in your future.

The only way that I could see the LA agreeing is if the new house was put in joint names so that they can gain access to funds if your dad was to die before your mum. This however would result in the whole value of the house transferring to your mum and therefore the LA.

I wouldn't do anything without taking legal advice.

Fiona