Our parents gave us a rental property years before my mother went into care. A declaration of trust was drawn up at the time to enable them to receive the rental income. Now my mother is in residential care the council have included this income, as shown on bank statements, but will not allow any running expenses of the property. Is this legal?
The council will assess your mother’s income from her bank statements. It’s possible the wording of the declaration of trust means you have to pay your mother the gross amount of rental income and maintain the property yourselves but if this isn’t the case, or you can arrange matters so that the bank account can also show outgoings relating to the property’s maintenance, then the council would have to take this on board.