Planning ahead
Q. My wife and I are currently in the process of drawing up our wills. We don’t have much money but we do own our own house, which we are turning over to our two children on the understanding that we can live here to the end of our days. I’m told that if either or both of us have to go into a nursing home the children would be held responsible for the charges involved. Is this correct, and if so can it be avoided?
A. It would be you and your wife who would be responsible for the fees but only if the local authority were able to prove that you transferred your house into your children’s names in order to avoid the fees. If you’re fit and healthy and don’t need residential care in the near future it could be that your motives will not be scrutinised too deeply. However giving your house away, even to your children, isn’t a course to be embarked on lightly: they could die, get divorced or be made bankrupt, in which case you could lose your house to your in-laws or a trustee in bankruptcy. There is also the problem that any increase in the value of the house arising after the house is transferred to your children will be subject to capital gains tax. Most of these problems can be avoided by gifting your home into a trust of which you and you wife are the life tenants, although if the value of your home exceeds £624,000, inheritance tax on such excess will be payable at 20%.

Storing up problems
Q. When my neighbour moved in she put up a seven-foot fence around her garden, but in doing so she cut off her access to her shed. These days it’s only used for storing junk and she keeps her dustbin there, but because of the fence the only way she can get to it is to cross our land. A friend told us we shouldn’t allow her to do this.
A. Your friend was right to put you on your guard. If your neighbour was to carry on crossing your land on a fairly regular basis for 20 years or more she – and anyone who bought her house in the future – could acquire the right to do so permanently. This would only apply if she was using the route without your permission however, so if you don’t mind your neighbour crossing your land you should perhaps give her written permission to do so and keep a copy. Similarly she’s running something of a risk of losing her shed at some stage if she’s incorporated it into your property.

Narrowing the path
Q. The residents of six houses in our street have pedestrian rights over a lane about 6ft wide behind our house. I wish to put up a garden shed which will have to jut out more than a foot into the lane. Will I be allowed to do this?
A. No. It is not possible to build on land over which neighbours have rights of way. It is immaterial that your shed will not extend over the entire access area. Ask a solicitor to check your title deeds if you’re in any doubt about the legal position.

Waiting in
Q. The fitter who installed our double-glazing had to come back to rectify some minor problems. He made several appointments but failed to keep them, with the result that my wife lost four days’ pay waiting in for him. The firm has offered us £100 compensation but it cost my wife double that?
A. Failure to keep an appointment could be regarded as a breach of contract, and technically you may be able to sue the company for any losses you incurred as a result. However the firm could argue that it wasn’t aware that your wife would suffer loss of earnings, or that she didn’t need to wait in the whole day. A court might think their offer of £100 was reasonable in the circumstances, so it would probably be advisable to accept it. And perhaps go elsewhere if you need further double-glazing.

Power transfer
Q. We are buying a property in Spain, and the solicitor has asked for a power of attorney so that he can sign documents on our behalf and save us a lot of travelling. Does this give him any legal rights that we should know about concerning our property?
A. A power of attorney is a deed – a signed and witnessed document –authorising a named person (in this case the solicitor) to act on your behalf. The legal rights you give him should be set out in the document. As an added safeguard you would ideally instruct a local firm with contacts in Spain to carry out this transaction since there are likely to be capital gains and inheritance tax implications which you should take on board before going ahead.