Asset Structuring - Ageing Relative

[Odysseus]

Hey forum chums, I’m hoping to get some friendly advice so I’m more prepared for when I talk to the professionals.

 

I have an uncle of 65 who lives in rural Dorset, so quite some distance from me in Cambridgeshire. He’s never married, has no significant other, and no dependents. I am his only living relative in the UK. He’s a simple soul and lives a simple life almost exclusively in the village he was born in and is generally baffled by the modern world. A psychologist could go to town on the reasons behind all this, but that’s not the point of this post.

 

By dint of family hard work, dear uncle has inherited and owns outright three homes, one of which he lives in, the two others are rented out, and a few acres of land, rented to a local farmer. His estate is probably worth £1.25M+ at current prices. His outgoings are minimal and he lives comfortably but in no way extravagantly from his minimum wage job in a shop and the (low) rental income from his properties. He’s totally ok with this and has never wanted anything different.

 

He’s always been eccentric and fit as a fiddle which is fine, but as he gets older I’m getting increasingly concerned about how he’s unprepared for a) the sophistication of the modern scam artist, and b) the heavy hand of the state when it comes to inheritance tax or paying for ongoing medical treatment.

 

I’m wondering if there is a mechanism where his assets can be put in a trust, or transferred to a limited company for which he is the director, or something similar, which would put them beyond the reach of the day to day scammer while preserving his ability to draw an income or lump sum if he needed to.

 

He’ll be utterly terrified of seeking professional advice but I’ve said I’ll help him and accompany him to the meetings and do all the driving, as he doesn’t drive (and these experts will not be in the village where he lives).

 

The elephant in the room is that obviously I stand to benefit from his estate when he passes, but this is not my motivation. I would like to see his assets (which are the product of generations of family hard work) benefit another generation and if this isn’t me that’s honestly fine. The worst scenario is that his gentle ignorance of how the world works would see his assets removed from under him by the state or a conniving third party in a way that will leave him confused and humiliated.

 

Any ideas on how his assets could be structured to provide the protection needed?

 

Thanks in advance for all help and suggestions.

 

 

Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

[sorcerer]

Have you ever heard of USENET?

If so, copy the above post into uk.legal.moderated where many very knowledgeable people will be only too happy to offer help and advice.

If you've never heard of USENET, then the way to access the same groups, but via the web rather than a dedicated USENET client is to go through Google Groups - this is the one you want:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/uk.legal.moderated

[KenMavor]

Just doing similar with one of my relatives.

At least he is considering it.

Getting everything in trust is the best way but there are catches.  He needs to live a few years to make it viable.  Are all the other houses registered in his name and hence recognized as second homes?  Pita if they are from CGT etc.  Where are the proceeds of the renting revenue being placed and is he paying tax.......if yes good....if not then tax man can go back a good few years if he finds out.  Get him to use his £20k ISA allowance every year. 

Try and not sell anything as there will be CGT tax due.  If he sells and gifts from the proceeds of a house sale and not from capital there is no taper benefit for the beneficary.  He can gift money regularly to who he wants and would suggest he needs to do that to show historical precedence.  It is useful to have that.  £3k a year.

Suggest you need some expert advice as you are saying.  Go for a fixed price advisor.

Does he have a will?  If no then get one done asap.  Does anyone have power of attorney just in case?

 

Ongoing medical treatment in England is also a nightmare which is why it all needs to be in trust.....not so much of a problem in Scotland.

Putting stuff in a trust is relatively easy but it's a lot of paperwork.

I think you are my long lost brother aren't you?  :-)