legal stuff

[ashleymewes]

my mam has transferred the deeds of our house into my name as if she was to be put into a care home then the house would be used to pay for it. Our solicitor wasn't much help though. Does anybody know the time scale which effects the outcome of this. Some say it has to be in my name for seven years for it to count.

[buildersmate]

If you mean to avoid a potential liability for Inheritance Tax, then 7 years is correct.

[Catso]

For IH tax, 7 years.

Though, I believe, if the local authorities believe the transfer was made principally in order to avoid paying for care, there is no time limit, and they treat the house as belonging to the original owner, no matter whose name it is actually in.

(I was told that by a proper financial advisor, before anyone says 'what a load of ******')

[jake-the-peg]

Sorry but the rules changed on Inheritance tax, this year I think.

It now no longer counts if the owner continues to "derive benefit" from the asset.

This means that in order for you to be exempt from inheritance act she would have to not be living in the house or she would have to pay you rent at market rates.

[homerthegrea]

as far as paying for care it's 5 years, but if the council think the reason your mother needed to go into a home was a long standing problem such as poor mobility and this problem and being ongoing for over 5 years ie. she had the problem at the time of the change over the she would still be liable to pay her fees.

[ashleymewes]

ok thanks for your help. Can your answer this one aswell?
Whats the price limit for a gift before we pay inheritance tax?

[jake-the-peg]

Like I say if your mother is deriving benefit from her asset (house) like living in it, then gifting it makes no effect on inheritance tax.

Currently there is an allowance of �285,000. Inheritance tax is only payable on what's left after you deduct this from the value of the estate

[WendyS]

If your mother continues to live in the house and subsequently needed to move into a care home, the local authorities could deem that she deliberately divested herself of it and could still insist the house be sold to meet her care fees unless she was paying you a commercial rent. Could you open a separate account in your name into which she pays you a reasonable monthly rent? Legally then the money would be yours and you would be liable for tax on it, but if you decide to spend that money on your mother's needs, that is entirely up to you.
I believe it is still 7 years before a gift become exempt from Inheritance Tax.
If you go onto the Age Concern website (I think its AgeConcern.co.uk or something similar,) you will find they have a lot of fact sheets which you can download on topics of interest and some of them relate to the use of homes in relation to Care Home fees, etc.

[buildersmate]

If your second question is 'how much can you give away to another person without it impacting any future potential IH tax liability' then I believe the answer is �5000 to a single person in a single tax year. One can give another �5000 in the next tax year etc.
But as others are pointing out to you, giving away assets may not have the effect that you expected regarding Care Homes.