Putting home into Living Trust

No. But I think there was a similar thread a few weeks ago...

Be very careful. It could be seen as deprivation of assets( well after seven years as well). Also results in complications if you ever want to sell/ move house and apparently there is tax to pay when you do this. I'm only saying this as we looked at doing this and decided against it. Definitely won't be handing my home to anyone. Yes, it's a pain having to possibly pay for care, but you may never need it. Out of my parents and in- laws, only one was ever in a care home. It's quite a complicated issue and we felt you could get into quite a legal mess, but that's us. Only advice I give is seek advice from a good solicitor and also talk to an accountant about tax.

Yes, Homestead62 has said it all there. You really do need to get good legal advice before considering this, as there are many pitfalls.

It would be helpful if OP says what they hope to achieve by doing this.

If it's care fee avoidance device, it won't work.

I remember a similar thread too, not that long ago. The advice given then was the same, don't do it.

And the problem with even the best legal advice is one can never be absolutely sure how a court would judge if it came to that,

And why should the rest of us pay your care bills if it does come to that? Because that is what is being proposed, and it hardly seems fair.

A close friend of mine did this some years ago and had legal advice from the outset. All was well until her husband died. Their house was far too big for her to maintain on her own so she decided to downsize to something much smaller. The Living Trust had to be transferred to the new property and the whole thing became a legal and tax nightmare for both her and her children. She decided to cancel it. But that too incurred considerable legal fees, in addition to the usual conveyancing fees. The only people who benefited were the solicitors.

Take my word. It is a nightmare. I tried this a couple of years ago with a firm named HENCEFORTH. I paid a substantial deposit for their services £4,000.00 but once I'd done that the correspondence slowed down actually came to a complete halt. After a few weeks I contacted my local MP, who asked for all my paperwork which I duly copied and gave for his perusal. In next to no time, I was contacted by the office of the MP to advise me that he was writing to HENCEFORTH asking for the return of the deposit as they had deceived me regarding putting my home in trust. HENCEEFORTH returned the deposit. Do you believe they would have returned the deposit if they were not deceiving me - never. Be warned.

Don’t do it! A waste of money as I found out when my mother died. It died with her and she could have had a few holidays with what she had paid the trust fund operator. He was the son of good friends too and they got shafted as well ! Said son now lives somewhere in Spain , didn’t even attend his mother’s funeral!!
Be warned!!

You've earned it, enjoy it - I'm sure the kids would agree 😁

Be very careful, my mother-in-law did this then it went into administration. we did get a bit of money back but nothing like the value she left in the building

Don’t do it. We have just updated our wills and legal advice was that we can protect 50% of value of house and this is not classed as avoidance, anything more would not be legal.
We are more than happy with this and do not wish to avoid paying for help should we need it.
Good luck.

That’s a bit harsh. I’m sure people have paid enough to the government without having to loose their home.
You have the right to stay in your home if your partner passes away. You gave thd right to will your home to your family and if it’s a blended family to whom the blood line should follow. It’s not IMHO deception it’s making sure in some cases a spurious family or step member takes the home from those who the owner wished to be a beneficiary. Don’t understand what or how all these so called tax and legal problems are being created.

You can will your home and assets to whoever you like CJAM but inheritance tax is due over a certain amount, I assume that’s what the OP is trying to avoid, a dodgy path to tread.

My aunt did this. It was a disaster.

I mentioned this on a previous thread. I realised some years ago, that if I died before my DH, he would have to go into a care home. As stated in our wills at that time, he would inherit my half of the house. I had no problem with his half paying for his care, but wasn’t so happy about my share going that way too. Our wills were changed so that after first death, that person’s half of the house went into a trust for our AC. DH died so his half of the house is now in the trust. If I need care, the house will be sold, and my half will go towards paying for it, plus any other assets. DH did need care before his death, and his share of our assets paid for it.

One person’s assets cannot be used to pay for the care of another person’s care in their lifetime.

But these kinds of 50:50 care fee protection trusts that only come into existence on the death of the first spouse won’t work depending on how much control the surviving spouse has over what can be done with the matrimonial home.

Questions to ask:

Can the surviving spouse continue to live in the matrimonial home?

Will the the surviving spouse be responsible for maintaining the matrimonial home from their own pocket?

Can they sell the matrimonial home and use all the proceeds to buy another home for thelmselves?

If they sell the matrimonial home, say to buy a less expensive property, freeing up capital that goes into trust, do they enjoy the income?

If they were to move again, could they draw on the trust capital to buy a more expensive property?

All of these things would constitute a bare trust that the surviving spouse would be considered to have an absolute entitlement to. If they then needed care, all of the value in their current property and any capital in the trust would be taken into account in a local authority assessment.

People are told that on the death of the first spouse, their share will go into trust say for the eventual benefit of a child or children of the marriage and can’t be used to pay for the care of the surviving parent should they need it. Be prepared for that to be challenged.

I was concerned about my half of the house being inherited by my DH, which would have been the outcome of the original will, then being used for his care, which it would have been..

Not sure if it’s different in Scotland. That half of the house was never mine.

Yes had a friend who sorted their mums house into a trust, through a solicitor- he said it will protect them from having to sell the house, I don’t believe it will stop the social taking it to pay for her care when the time comes (full blown Alzheimer’s now). The two siblings have now fallen out, one wants the other off the paperwork.

GrannySomerset

And why should the rest of us pay your care bills if it does come to that? Because that is what is being proposed, and it hardly seems fair.

To me , it is hardly fair that people who have put themselves in debt for 25 or 30 years to buy a home of their own ( not to mention the amount of money spent on maintaining a property) and have done their best to have something to leave their children, have that taken away by exorbitant care fees, whilst someone in the same care facility who has chosen not to go without to buy a home for themselves and their family have there placement paid for by the rest of us.

You are concerned about someone in the same care facility who has chosen not to go without to buy a home for themselves

But I am concerned about those who never earned enough to do more than survive. They will have no choices - through no "fault" of their own.

The ones with a house to sell are actually the fortunate ones.

Do not tamper with the waterworks; ie leave well alone.