Will and care fees

[Jezzy]

Hi there, i am new and hope someone can help. My dad died 3rd November 2016, the will left belongings to our mum. She was in a care home with fees being paid by the council. The house was in our dads name alone, does the house automatically transfer to my mum on the date my dad died so she would then have that as an asset the council would count? So care fees payable by her from the date of our dads death instead of the council?

We never transferred the property, my mum sadly passed away recently from Alzheimer's and the house is just about to sold (we sold it in July but contracts due to exchange shortly). My mum died 29th October 2018 and we were selling the house as we thought we would need to pay care fees. Is this correct? Both me and my brother are beneficiaries of my mums will now.

Thanks to to anyone who can help. We want to make sure if we should be paying care fees from the sale of the house and from when.

[Jezzy]

Hi there, if anyone could help with this question that would be appreciated. Thanks

[2222]

So, you've been through the mill, haven't you. You've lost both parents in two years, plus mum's been through Alzheimer's. My heart goes out to you.

Can you explain more clearly what you mean by "My dad died 3rd November 2016, the will left belongings to our mum."

Do you mean that your dad left everything, including the house, to your mum?

[Ioftenwonder]

Hi

Sorry for your loss, it sounds like quite an awful time.

I am an associate of a well respected estate planning firm and can offer you some general help.

In response to your situation, when your dad died and your mum inherited the house through intestacy rules she became the legal owner from that point (the date of death), i presume your dads estate didn't pass through probate court etc...if it did the date would be from when your mum was awarded the house.
With your mum presumably not named on the deeds the council may not have been aware of the property at the time she was assessed for funding. If they get wind she had the asset via inheritance and the care fees were substantial they may well come after repayment of the care fees they have paid, from the date of your dads death.
Councils do often make a big deal about 'avoidance/deprevation of assets' when it comes to care fees so i'm glad you are already mindful of looking into this issue.

So far as i understand it, the short answer is yes your mum/her estate would be liable for the fees as she aquired the assets to fund her care.

The council obviously is unaware that your mum inherited the house and could well have the right to request payment for your mums care from her estate if they found out about the house and whoever is the executor of your mums estate needs to be really careful at this point as if the funds are shared out without the council being paid the executor could then be liable for the care fees if the council take action.

Its a situation where i would recommend paying a specialist solicitor to look over your situation in detail prior to distributing your mums estate to beneficiarys.

I suspect the council will want reimbursing for fees from your dads death to hers - within the limitations of what they can claim.

However the other school of thought could be, if the council didn't know about it at the time she was last asessed for funding and wouldn't know now then they wouldn't have reason to look into this matter now and you may be able to avoid a costly bill.

I personally would be paying a few hundred quid to get an expert to look over this issue...you may find it most worthwhile one way or another.

Hope that helps a bit.

The above is just my personal opinion based on the facts i have to go on.