house deeds

[firepoppy]

myself and my father bought our terreced house and the mortgage is cleared,he is 83 and in poor health although he agrees the house is mine when he goes as ive always paid the mortgage,but both his name and mine are still on the deeds,where do i stand if he has to go to a nursing home.

[Dodger666]

You need to seek professional advice.

[R1Geezer]

Deeds are irrelevant, you need and equity transfer from the land regstry. However if the local authority believe this is a device to avoid paying nersing costs they may well chare anyway.

[Nosha123]

You need to see a Solicitor and get the necessary documents drawn up.. despite what he says - you need to cover it off legally. My MIL was on the deeds to our house but never contributed to the mortgage as was agreed. Then when we sold the house she decided she wanted £20,000.

Luckily she had signed all the legal documents and it was proven the house was ours and not hers.

I am certain your old Dad wouldnt cross you like that - but it would be awful if a third party had the power to make you sell what is effectively YOUR home.

Seek advice now... and get it all sorted then you wont have to worry. It wont be expensive!

[buildersmate]

If you are concerned that the Local Authority might turf you out of the house to raise the proceeds necessary to pay for care, using the 50% equity stake your Dad owns, it is unlikely to happen. They will not do this (generally) but ask for a revenue order to be signed such that they can reclaim their funding when the house is sold.
If you are concerned that your Dad's 50% stake in the property will not be left to you when he dies thus you are thinking about him transferring the whole asset to yourself, then it is unlikely to work. R1Geezer's answer applies.

[Barmaid]

You do need to seek professional advice. The test is not what he agrees now but what you agreed when you bought it. If you agreed that the house is yours but he could always live there, you may have a case to defeat a charge to a nursing home on the basis that his interest extended to a life interest only. On the other hand, if there was no discussion, the normal rule is that (in the absence of a declaration of trust) you will each own the house in the same shares which you contributed to its purchase price.

[Dodger666]

As I said earlier you need to seek professional advice. The deeds may say you are Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common and different circumstances apply to each. Read about it here:-

http://www.firstrungnow.com/joint-ownership/joint-tenancy-tenants-in-common.aspx

Your father could be a Tenant in Common owning a very small share. See a solicitor now.