My Mum has moved into a care home & I want to let my house & move into hers to provide extra money towards the fees. That way round should be the best financial deal, as hers would need a bit of work and she would have to pay higher rate tax if I let hers. She has given me the right to buy the house in her will and also made provision for the valuation if I move in during her lifetime, so I believe I can prove it's her wish that I do this (she has spent a lot of time persuading me to move in there when she was gone from it). She also wrote a note recently saying she wanted me to live there for free. I want to pay the profit from renting mine towards her fees, to ensure she can stay in the current home as long as possible, so I wouldn't be staying for free. Does anyone know if this is allowable by the OPG? Additionally, I share the PoA with a step-relative, who wants to sell the house (several to £5000 a year, joint in excess of that). I won't agree to sell the house unless we have to, but can they stop me moving into Mum's? Where do I go for professional advice? Would the OPG advise on this?
Dispute over Mum's house
- Thread starter Misstep
- Start date
Sorry but I don't understand the bit you've put in brackets no matter how hard I try, could you expand on it a bit "several to £5000 a year"???
If you rent out your house and cover all your expenses then use the residue to pay towards the care home fees from your mum and you then live in her house for free and once you've moved in get it for an agreed price (presumably a good price) then there is a case why the joint POA could say you're not acting in your mother's best interests.
I'm assuming your mum is self funding if she ever ceased to be (assuming your under 60) may be seen as deprivation of assets and potentially they could ask you to move or put a deferred payment in place so they'd get part of the value of the house when it did sell, had you moved in before she went into care and didn't own any other property then it might be different.
The validity of any notes your mum may have written about you living there or fixing the houses' price is at best questionable and I doubt legally enforceable.
The OPG can be very helpful but it can also be time consuming and expensive I'd try and resolve it with the other POA before I went down that route.
K
I'm assuming that when you say several up to $5K you mean the attorneys can act jointly and severally for transactions up to $5K, but only jointly after that?
I think your only option is to pay your mother the fair market rent for her house if you want to stay on the right side of the OPG: to do anything else, even if you were concurrently using the money from renting your own property would leave you in legally untenable position with regard to both the OPG and the LA. I realise it would likely come out the same, but you have to be seen to be doing the right thing.
This is one of the problems with an LPA set up in this way: if you were renting your mother's house to another person, you could probably sign a lease as your mother's representative (although that would depend on the market rent). However, you simply cannot benefit from being an attorney and I would think the other attorney would have to sign off on such an agreement. If they choose not to, you won't be able to move in. On the other hand, the other attorney cannot force the sale unless they take it back to court.
What your mother's will says is irrelevant to the situation you are in at this time, and her note saying she wants you to live there for free is not something that will help you.
I think your only option is to pay your mother the fair market rent for her house if you want to stay on the right side of the OPG: to do anything else, even if you were concurrently using the money from renting your own property would leave you in legally untenable position with regard to both the OPG and the LA. I realise it would likely come out the same, but you have to be seen to be doing the right thing.
This is one of the problems with an LPA set up in this way: if you were renting your mother's house to another person, you could probably sign a lease as your mother's representative (although that would depend on the market rent). However, you simply cannot benefit from being an attorney and I would think the other attorney would have to sign off on such an agreement. If they choose not to, you won't be able to move in. On the other hand, the other attorney cannot force the sale unless they take it back to court.
What your mother's will says is irrelevant to the situation you are in at this time, and her note saying she wants you to live there for free is not something that will help you.
Because it is quite complex and there is a lot at stake I would strongly advise you to take legal advice - it would be well worth paying for an hour of time at least to get solid legal advice. Sounds like a great idea to me and your mum would like it to so fingers crossed you will find the right way through this.
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Sorry, I was trying to say that we can act severally below £5000 and only jointly above it
Thanks for the advice
Thank you for your helpful advice on this everyone. It's helped me to clear my mind about it.
Thank you for your helpful advice on this everyone. It's helped me to clear my mind about it.
