pro forma for deed of gift

[colind]

My wife and I recently gave each of our children a substantial deposit to help with their purchase of their first houses. Is there a pro forma available on which we can declare that these were gifts and not loans?

Is there a period of time that must elapse before such gifts are no longer treated as our assets, for example for the calculation of our liability for care home fees?

[Buenchico]

A formal 'deed of gift' document would probably have little, if any, value when transferring solely monetary assets. (Such documents are normally only used when transferring property).

With regard to care home fees, see 'Trying to avoid care home fee payments' here:
http://www.direct.gov...CareHomes/DG_10031523

A gift (or a part of that gift) may be regarded as part of a person's estate when Inheritance Tax is calculated if the person who made the gift died within 7 years. See here:
http://www.hmrc.gov.u...ey-property/index.htm

Chris

[dzug2]

You need to record the gift in the form of a letter. You, your wife and each child should have and keep a copy.

Additionally their mortgage company is going to want confirmation:

that it's a gift and not a loan
that you are not acquiring an interest in the property
that you are not going to live in the property

How formal they are going to be about that is an open question. The only case I've been involved with they just wanted a letter TO THEM (not 'to whom it may concern') indicating the above and signed by the donor. No witness. Others could be more fussy, requiring a solicitor's confirmation for example