Letting father's house

jayobray

My dad owns his house. Recently he suffered a significant injury that has left him incapacitated, probably permanently.

My sister lives with him, a temporary arrangement that became permanent. My sister has now decided that she wants to rent rooms out in my dad's house. My sister never paid my dad any rent.

I'm not too happy with the situation, but would consider that any rent would be paid into my dad's account, where his medical support is being paid for. I'm worried about tax and insurance implications, and also around legal issues about being a landlord. My dad doesn't live in the house now, and has had to move into a home.

Any thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated.

Mrs OBumble

How is your dad's care being paid for now?

Wesser

Its not clear where your sister is living... is she living in a ( nursing?) home with your dad?

Xterminator

Its your fathers house and he is alive.

If the rent helps pay for household expenses, and a little can go towards his care that is a good thing. As i understand your sister will maintain a residence in the house and any tenants will be licensees. That would reduce any risk as landlord, as the licencee can be asked to leave at short notice and accrues no rights. the income up to €14,000 is tax free. Done that way it would appear to defuse your objections.

I dont think your sister needs your approval, nor should your happiness be a major factor here. While your father is alive his wishes and care should be paramount. Your sister has assumed the role of carer, and you should be respectful of that role.

You sound put out, but havent really explained why that should be.

jayobray

Thanks for the comments. My dad's care is being provided through his savings and pension which adequately cover his care.

My sister is not his carer, and never has been. She is living alone in the house now, and I'm be concerned that she sees it as a way to make money herself, and I don't want to see my dad's property being used for that, unless it is for his care. She has not been involved in organising my dad's care to date, leaving that up to other family members. I'm also concerned about any exposure it might leave my dad open to.

That being said, the idea of a licencee is a good one.

ted1

Xterminator wrote: »

Its your fathers house and he is alive.

If the rent helps pay for household expenses, and a little can go towards his care that is a good thing. As i understand your sister will maintain a residence in the house and any tenants will be licensees. That would reduce any risk as landlord, as the licencee can be asked to leave at short notice and accrues no rights. the income up to €14,000 is tax free. Done that way it would appear to defuse your objections.

I dont think your sister needs your approval, nor should your happiness be a major factor here. While your father is alive his wishes and care should be paramount. Your sister has assumed the role of carer, and you should be respectful of that role.

You sound put out, but havent really explained why that should be.

Is it not the sister that gets the benefit of the tax free rather than the father ?

AnRothar

Under what circumstances/agreement did your sister move back into your father's house?

While you may be concerned about her residing there your father may not be.

Also you mention "other family members" .
What are their thoughts?

Claw Hammer

Your sister sounds like a scheming free-loader. You should persuade your father to sell the house straight away.

spaceHopper

You could look at it from another way, your sister takes one room, the others are rented out all pay rent somebody does a tax return for your father and he pays tax, he'd easily earn more than 14 k even after tax. You sister could keep an eye on things and pay a reduced rent, but I'd suggest she gets the smaller room. Your dads saving won't last forever.

jayobray

Again, thanks for your replies. My dad is not in a position to make decisions like this, and doubtful ever will be, and a power of attorney situation is being looked at. My sister moved in after coming back from abroad temporarily but hasn't decided on long term plans. The other family members are thinking along the same lines as me. We've no problem with her living there, but don't want her using it as a money making opportunity.

The family matters are one thing, and they can be addressed, they're not as bad as they sound. But I just want to make sure that if we do go down the road of renting out that it is done properly, and things wouldn't get complicated for my dad or more realistically whoever will be responsible for his financial affairs.

the_syco

jayobray wrote: »

Again, thanks for your replies. My dad is not in a position to make decisions like this, and doubtful ever will be, and a power of attorney situation is being looked at.

Would advise you getting any documents such as ownership documents to your dads car, house, etc, that are kept int the house to make sure she doesn't have any other "get rich quick" scheme.

If he's incapacitated, I'd view him as high risk, and block any attempt she makes in renting the room to people. Would also consider that if she's a lazy freeloader, you'll end up having to fix anything that goes wrong, and she'll pocket a percentage of the rent for doing SFA.

spaceHopper

jayobray wrote: »

Again, thanks for your replies. My dad is not in a position to make decisions like this, and doubtful ever will be, and a power of attorney situation is being looked at.

Sorry about your dad, have you looked into getting financial advise, there are ways of paying for his care that are more tax efficient, like you pay for it can claim back some from tax man and rest from either his estate or from his savings. Also he can give each of you a tax free gift of 3000 and you can use that to pay for his care and claim money back in tax.