Renting to family

Benefits, finances and funding
1

This is quite a complex issue…

My parents divorced over 40 years ago but continued to live together in the same house which was solely in my father’s name. When my father died 20 years later he died intestate and so I, being his daughter and next of kin inherited the house. It would appear that although they divorced there was no divorce settlement. The deeds remained in his name and when we discovered this my mother said she was happy with this as I would eventually inherit both their estates anyway( I am an only child) but she wished to stay on in the property and had no desire to move. So this is what happened.

When Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimers she moved in with me and we rented out the property to give me an income as I had to give up work. Now Mum is in a care home and the rent is paying the third party top up.
All is well but someone told me the other day that if a family member lives in a property you own they should pay and you should be able to prove that they were paying a market rent otherwise the local authority may have a legal right to recover contributions they have made toward the fees. Is this so?

2

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All is well but someone told me the other day that if a family member lives in a property you own they should pay and you should be able to prove that they were paying a market rent otherwise the local authority may have a legal right to recover contributions they have made toward the fees. Is this so?

Best to bounce that question off … AGE UK … https://www.ageuk.org.uk/ … and other concerns arising out of the question.

3

If dad left you the house it is YOUR HOUSE.
It is absolutely not in any way, shape or form, anything to do with her finances. The rent is yours, NOT hers!

Does mum have over £23,000 in savings? If not then the council should be paying some, or all, or her care home fees.

Tell me more about the care home fees. (I reclaimed £8,000 from my mum’s LA as they didn’t follow the rules!)
Did Social Services arrange the placement?
How much do they contribute to the weekly fees?
How much do you contribute?

Be sure to arrange for the property to be transferred in your name, to make the situation crystal clear. Do this as soon as possible.