Trying to recover gifted property

[ostell]

Some help and pointers appreciated. Friend of ours gifted her flat to her daughter some 4 years ago following a gift of a not inconsiderable sum of money a few years previous to that. The daughter had emigrated to New Zealand with her husband and the intention of the transfer was that when they had settled then daughter and son in law would buy a 4 bedroomed house and mother would join then in NZ. Nothing on paper about this, of course.

Mother is now seriously disabled, in fact is getting to the stage when she will soon need to move into accommodation providing some care. She would ideally have liked to have had the ownership of the flat transferred back to her to allow her to move into that sheltered accommodation. Daughter will not transfer back (think it's the influence of the husband) and so she is stuck.

Anyone think of a way round this? My thought was get the council to provide accommodation and then go after the property on the basis that it was moved to frustrate any attempt to sell for accommodation payment and there could be rules to override the sale.

Feedback appreciated.

[Amethyst]

Re: Trying to recover gifted property

First priority is her day to day living arrangements, so yes, if the council can and will provide care & sheltered accom - take it. If the flat was transferred back it would just have to be sold to pay for her care ?

Althoughhhhh as it was gifted within the last 7 years the council might have different ideas and just take it back anyway ( not my area so no idea exactly how that works but it could look like disposal of assets to avoid paying for care ).

[MENTION=141]enaid[/MENTION] ?

[Openlaw15]

Re: Trying to recover gifted property

Some help and pointers appreciated. Friend of ours gifted her flat to her daughter some 4 years ago following a gift of a not inconsiderable sum of money a few years previous to that. The daughter had emigrated to New Zealand with her husband and the intention of the transfer was that when they had settled then daughter and son in law would buy a 4 bedroomed house and mother would join then in NZ. Nothing on paper about this, of course.

Mother is now seriously disabled, in fact is getting to the stage when she will soon need to move into accommodation providing some care. She would ideally have liked to have had the ownership of the flat transferred back to her to allow her to move into that sheltered accommodation. Daughter will not transfer back (think it's the influence of the husband) and so she is stuck.

Anyone think of a way round this? My thought was get the council to provide accommodation and then go after the property on the basis that it was moved to frustrate any attempt to sell for accommodation payment and there could be rules to override the sale.

Feedback appreciated.

A gift means exactly that - no money/ consideration given. A freehold flat in terms of ownership requires a deed of transfer and to be registered on the land register. If these are done the daughter will have a water tight legal interest to the property. Notwithstanding, even an equitable ownership requires writing for estate types of property transfers, ie the family home. What are the facts of the flat transfer? The council has duty to accommodate vulnerable people including the elderly who have lost their home to no fault of their own.

[enaid]

Re: Trying to recover gifted property

Hi, not a nice situation but can only input what I know from going through who funds care for my dad and MIL so this is what I learned.

Your friend will firstly have a Needs Assessment only Continuing Health Care is fully funded by the NHS, if it is Social Care your friend is assessed as needing then a financial assessment will be done.
The first question from the LA will be 'do you own your own home' if 'no' then 'did you ever own your own home'
If the home was given away less than six months before needing care then the LA could call this deliberate deprivation of assets and could use the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 to reverse the transfer. If it's longer than six month the act can not be used but insolvency laws can be used and if this is the case there is no limit to how far they can go back.
It is down to the LA to prove Deprivation of Assets but as things are with most LAs and lack of money they are getting a lot keener on investigating these matters.
Good luck with helping your friend and can only add I hope she gets good care regardless of the finance side.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Trying to recover gifted property

Hi, not a nice situation but can only input what I know from going through who funds care for my dad and MIL so this is what I learned.

Your friend will firstly have a Needs Assessment only Continuing Health Care is fully funded by the NHS, if it is Social Care your friend is assessed as needing then a financial assessment will be done.
The first question from the LA will be 'do you own your own home' if 'no' then 'did you ever own your own home'
If the home was given away less than six months before needing care then the LA could call this deliberate deprivation of assets and could use the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 to reverse the transfer. If it's longer than six month the act can not be used but insolvency laws can be used and if this is the case there is no limit to how far they can go back.
It is down to the LA to prove Deprivation of Assets but as things are with most LAs and lack of money they are getting a lot keener on investigating these matters.
Good luck with helping your friend and can only add I hope she gets good care regardless of the finance side.

Enaid

There are differences though right between these: making yourself homeless; making a gift of a home with no conditions attached; making yourself homeless with conditions attached, ie it was presumed another home would be provided but owing to problems/ failure to go ahead with plans the person loses their home. So, in my view it's a grey area.