If your property is owned in joint names it is vulnerable.  This is because each of you owns the entire house, so if either of you were to go in to care, the asset of the home could be sold to pay for care.

The solution is to undertake a threefold process:

• Firstly, become Tenants In Common.  This means that each of you owns half the house, or any other division you agree upon.  The immediate benefits are that a portion of a house can't be sold, and when you're both gone, only one portion, the portion owned by the person who went in to care, can be considered. (Much better than the whole property being whisked away to pay for care whilst you live, so that when the time comes, there's precious little left for the offspring!)
• The next stage is to give one another a life interest in your portion of the home.  In this way, you are secure for as long as you live.
• The third stage is to Will your portion of the home, no, not to the other spouse, but to the children or other chosen beneficiaries.

When this tripod is in place, your property will be secure.

We undertake all legal requirements, including dealings with Land Registry.  We ensure that appropriate protective Trust clauses are constructed for inclusion in the Will(s).

If your home is owned in single name only, again it is vulnerable.  One way to protect the property would be to add somebody – possibly the beneficiary(ies) of your estate – to the property as Tenant(s) In Common, and have protective or Trust clauses constructed for inclusion in the Will(s) as necessary.

                                     Call Legacy Legal Services

Will Writing; Trusts; Estate Planning

Tel:  0800 959 6171