Transfer of deeds

[Purrdy]

Can any one give me some advice for a friend? She has lived in a house all her life with her parents (and still does), her father passed anyway some years ago and in recent years her mum has developed dementia. Within the last year the deeds were transferred from her mothers name to hers ( her mum stills lives there, with her). Due to a recent fall and her dementia increasingly getting worse her mum has been taken in to hospital. Now my friend feels it is in everyone's interest for her mum to go into a carehome but where does she stand with the house and care home fees?

Social works at the hospital are putting her under pressure and advising the house can be taken to pay fees?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Kevinl]

Hi Purrdy
Sorry but I think they'll see the transfer of the house from the mother to the daughter as deprivation of assets unless there was some reason it was done.
With hindsight it would have been better if the late father had left his half of the house to the daughter that way half of it would be protected if he left it to the mother so she owned the whole house then it could all go in care home fees.
Unless your friend is over 60 I should add.
K

 

[Pete R]

Can any one give me some advice for a friend? She has lived in a house all her life with her parents (and still does), her father passed anyway some years ago and in recent years her mum has developed dementia. Within the last year the deeds were transferred from her mothers name to hers ( her mum stills lives there, with her). Due to a recent fall and her dementia increasingly getting worse her mum has been taken in to hospital. Now my friend feels it is in everyone's interest for her mum to go into a carehome but where does she stand with the house and care home fees?

Social works at the hospital are putting her index pressure and advising the house can be taken to pay fees?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

It will really depend of what other capital the Mother has. If it is enough to pay for her care for as long as needed then all is OK however if not then unfortunately with transferring the house only a year ago the Local Authority may decide that this has been done for the purposes of avoiding paying for care home fees. If it was done at a time that there was no prospect of her Mother needing care there may be a chance of challenging it.

How old is your friend? If she is over 60 the house will be disregarded anyway. If under 60 she can apply for a discretional discharge as it her home, she has cared for her parents and will be made homeless. This is a very difficult process and I have been battling my LA for well over a year and they refuse to budge.

If the decision is that the house belongs to the Mother the house does not have to be sold immediately. The LA should offer a deferred payment agreement where they pay the care costs and recoup the money when the Mother dies. The debt can be paid from any source so again may not mean the house has to be sold.

The New Care Act Statutory Guidance covers all the rules....
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation
The transfer of the deeds will come under Deprivation of Assets in Annexe E
The disregard of the property is in Annexe B Starting at Sec.34
Deferred payments are at the beginning under Sec 9.

Age UK have an abundance of Fact Sheets that explain it all slightly better.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation

 

[nitram]

Legal Title ( shown on Title Deeds) need not be the same as Beneficial Ownership.

 

[Jessbow]

I find it lightly odd that the deeds could be transferred- on whose authority?

I think deprivation of assets may well come into play

 

[arielsmelody]

I thought the term was transfer of equity? Was a solicitor involved? I would have thought that a solicitor would have needed to talk to the mother and daughter separately and give them both advice on how this would affect them and whether it would potentially be deprivation of assets. I can't see how it would have been in the mother's best interests to give away her capital at this stage of life, assuming that she had the mental capacity to do so?

I think she needs to talk to a solicitor, preferably not the one who handled the transfer (if there was one involved) to see where she stands now.

 

[Purrdy]

Thank you everyone, I'll pass the web site addresses on to my friend and I have already advised her to seek a solicitor (not the one that transferred the deeds).
Thanks again for your support.