Good afternoon all. This is my first post on here, so please be gentle. I have lurked for a long while and always found the site to be a mine of great information, but I now have a very specific query on which I would value some advice from those far more knowledgeable than me!
My In-laws,who are both retired, had a spot of financial trouble about 5 years back and to cut a long story short, we bailed them out of their spiralling debts by buying a 1/3 share of their house (that they still lived in) on which they paid us £200 PCM in rent. This cleared all of their debts and mortgage and allowed them to stay in their home debt free and survive of their low income. They have no private pensions, so just had their state pensions.
Unfortunately my father-in-law died around 3 weeks ago and we are now worried that without his pension income, my mother-in-law will not be able to afford to survive financially, as she only receives the minimum state pension. Clearly as she is family, we don’t mind helping her out by not taking her ‘rent’ each month, but my question is: Would my mother-in-laws income be bolstered in some way, eg some form of State benefit top-up or council tax rebate if we declared that she still needed to pay us £200 PCM rent – which has been the deal until now. Or are we unnecessarily opening a complex can of worms.
We are essentially subsidising her income by £200 PCM by not charging rent, but if she also misses out on some form of state assistance as a result of our help, it would seem like the wrong thing to do. I know that sounds slightly twisted, but I know sometimes these things do not work in obvious ways.
Any help would be gratefully received and if more information is needed, please just ask.
Thanks inadvance and sorry for such a long-winded first question!
My In-laws,who are both retired, had a spot of financial trouble about 5 years back and to cut a long story short, we bailed them out of their spiralling debts by buying a 1/3 share of their house (that they still lived in) on which they paid us £200 PCM in rent. This cleared all of their debts and mortgage and allowed them to stay in their home debt free and survive of their low income. They have no private pensions, so just had their state pensions.
Unfortunately my father-in-law died around 3 weeks ago and we are now worried that without his pension income, my mother-in-law will not be able to afford to survive financially, as she only receives the minimum state pension. Clearly as she is family, we don’t mind helping her out by not taking her ‘rent’ each month, but my question is: Would my mother-in-laws income be bolstered in some way, eg some form of State benefit top-up or council tax rebate if we declared that she still needed to pay us £200 PCM rent – which has been the deal until now. Or are we unnecessarily opening a complex can of worms.
We are essentially subsidising her income by £200 PCM by not charging rent, but if she also misses out on some form of state assistance as a result of our help, it would seem like the wrong thing to do. I know that sounds slightly twisted, but I know sometimes these things do not work in obvious ways.
Any help would be gratefully received and if more information is needed, please just ask.
Thanks inadvance and sorry for such a long-winded first question!
