Family Matters – help please :-)

[jerkyMember@jerkyJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 4]

January 30, 2006 - 12:31 pm

Hi all,

Am in need of some advice. Sorry for the long story, but it is a sad situation that I could use some help with.
My uncle has been living with an old lady, sharing the bills, doing the shopping and taking care of her for about 20 years, until recently when she passed away. Unfortunately the old lady hadn’t written a will, and as a result my uncle may be asked to leave when probate goes through. We are hoping there will be an offer of the property to him at a discount as the benefactors of the will are in Scotland and want to finish up the business as soon as possible.
The problem is that my uncle is a pensioner himself without a dime to his name, and also very simple minded.
I have done some enquiring and the lawyer I had spoken to suggested he may have claim to part of the property, (not that he would ever make that claim), so I am hoping that I will be able to negotiate the discount in his favour based on what that lawyer has told me.
The main problem I guess is, that he has no money whatsoever, and wishes to remain in that house. I have done some reading on reverse mortgages, but it seems the most they will offer is 15% LVR, which doesnt come close.
I on the other hand, could purchase the property, but I have some hesitation in doing this, as I know he will not be able to repay me, and there is also the added worry if he ever needed the money to go into full time care or anything like that.
I have thought of setting up a trust for him, but again Im not sure how this would work with me putting up the money for purchase and then selling later on (cgt implications??)
Sorry for the muddled post, but I am really running out of ideas on how to help my poor uncle. I think the trust might be on the right track, but I havent done much reading into this. If someone more knowledgeable could tell me whether a trust is the correct way to go about this or just throw me another idea, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you kindly
Kylie [worried]

[TerrywParticipant@terrywJoin Date: 2001Post Count: 16,213]

January 30, 2006 - 2:14 pm

When you say living with, do you mean defacto? If so, then he has an equitable interest in the property and could make a claim.

If not, then he may still be able to purchase the property using a no doc loan at 70% LVR.

Or, you may be able to purchase a property for him now and transfer it later, without stamp duty using a bare trust

Terryw
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[jerkyMember@jerkyJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 4]

January 30, 2006 - 2:27 pm

Hi Terry,

thanks for the reply…no I don’t mean defacto, I just mean sharing the house.
I will do some reading on lo doc loans and bare trusts, thanks for that information, I just didnt know if I was barking up the wrong tree [biggrin]

Thanks!
Kylie

[shake-the-diseaseMember@shake-the-diseaseJoin Date: 2005Post Count: 97]

January 30, 2006 - 11:53 pm

I would try and contact the beneficiaries and explain the situation.

Perhaps see if you can negotiate some rent free period, or reduced rent period, in return for not pursuing a claim over the property through the courts. I would discuss this though with a solicitor first to see how realistic your chances are in the courts.

[hifloMember@hifloJoin Date: 2005Post Count: 33]

January 31, 2006 - 2:02 am

I’ve read a case where a lady was taking care of an old man, no de facto relationship, and she was left with nothing under his will. She did not challenge the will, but because the beneficiaries wanted to kick her out and sell the property she went to court and obtained life time interest or something like that on the basis that she did take care of the old man. I think the name of the case was Oglivie v Ryan- so your old uncle may have some lifetime interest.

But I think it may be better to explain the situation to the beneficiaries and come up with some sort of agreement so that your uncle can live there as long as he wants as court procedure is time and money consuming, and other factors may be taken into consideration that would make the courts not follow precedents.