Giving gift to daughter for property but complicated

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Perplexed

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Not sure if I'm in the right forum here so Mods please move if appropriate.

I want to give a gift of €45k to my daughter to buy a house with her fiancé. Because she's not permanently employed - she's a primary teacher but just getting subbing jobs at the moment - it's easier to get a Mortgage in just the Fiancés name. They see a house they really like and want to go ahead now even though they are not getting married till July next year.

I know my gift to her will not be taxable as she has not received any money from me before but if she then gives it to her Fiancé will he be liable for Tax on it? If they were married I know he wouldn't be liable. Is there any legal way around this??

Any suggestions would be very welcome.
 
I gave my daughter a similar amount when she and her partner bought their house some years ago. They are joint owners, not married, and all I had to do was write a letter for her solicitor to say that the money was given unconditionally (i.e. I had no expectations of any share of the house).
 
The bank have told them that he would have a better chance of getting the mortgage they want in his sole name. Seeing as she hasn't a permanent job it's almost like she's a liability. She does work whenever she gets it, in fact last year she had a fulltime job from Oct to June (to cover an illness), but it's not guaranteed so they can't count it as income for mortgage repayments.
Eithneangela, I wrote a similar letter for her but then the bank wouldn't give them a big enough mortgage.
 
Partnership, they will change the name on the deeds after they marry. I am not in the least afraid that the marriage won't take place. They've been together for 12yrs now and I'm happy they know what they're doing.
 
If the bank are unwilling to grant a mortgage based on the income (either from your daughter, her partner, or both together) then in my opinion you should not gift the money to your daughter at this stage. Your gift should be dependent on them getting a mortgage, with joint ownership of the property. There are potential dangers to you handing over the money and losing it should the partnership break down (nothing is sacrosanct) and the potential property is only in the name of your daughter's partner. I think you should actually talk to a solicitor about this before you gift anything, particularly in the current scenario. I do hope it works out for all.
 
The problem is that the bank are willing to give a mortgage but will give a bigger amount if it's in his sole name.
It's not the gift I'm worried about but the possible tax liability - which would be a fair amount. That's what I'm trying to avoid!
 
Is the gift required for the deposit?, or could you wait until they are married to hand over the cash.
Either way I don't see where the tax comes in. You give a gift to your daughter as many fathers do for wedding, houses and many other reasons.
If you give the gift towards the house you may have to make a declaration that you want no financial interest in the house.
It will also have an affect on the amount (tax free) she can inherit from you. ie. Threshold - father to daughter 250,000 less 45,000 already receieved. That may or may not concern you
 
Black Sheep said:
Is the gift required for the deposit?, or could you wait until they are married to hand over the cash.
Either way I don't see where the tax comes in. You give a gift to your daughter as many fathers do for wedding, houses and many other reasons.
If you give the gift towards the house you may have to make a declaration that you want no financial interest in the house.
It will also have an affect on the amount (tax free) she can inherit from you. ie. Threshold - father to daughter 250,000 less 45,000 already receieved. That may or may not concern you
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The tax issue is that the daughter would be passing the money on to her fiance in order for him to acquire the property in his own name. In which case for gift tax purposes it would be treated as a gift from the parent to the fiance.
 
Thank you Mandelbrot....that's exactly what I thought but was hoping there was some legal way around it.

Thanks everyone for your input.
 
Perplexed said:
. They see a house they really like and want to go ahead now even though they are not getting married till July next year.

.
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Can they not wait until July? There is lots of property out there. Once married the bank will insist the mortgage is in joint names. Despite their being 12 years together I think you'd be crazy to give the money until they are married.
 
It's just as well that I have a better opinion of my son-in-law to be than most of you here lol !!
I know there are horror stories out there but I've known this guy since he was 18 and his parents & relations. He has taken good care of my daughter in their travels all over the world. He's like another son to me and I'm delighted they're finally getting round to getting married.

Yes, there are lots of properties out there but this particular house is in a most desirable area and at a great price. That's why I'd love to be able to help them out but unfortunately the banks aren't proving too obliging.

Hopefully other interested parties are having difficulties too with getting a mortgage...
 
Perplexed, it's only a house, and it's not even for you. So, let them get on with the best way of purchasing it - if the banks are not playing, then let them move on. I think it's great that you're trying to give them a huge helping hand, but it's not the end of the world if they lose this house. So, maybe keep your options open and whatever you do, protect your own interests. I gave money to a child years ago to help with the deposit on the house, the relationship broke down, it took a lot of hardship and time to get my money back.
 
Thanks for all your replies and I'm sorry Eithneangela that you've had such a bad experience.

I guess it's a case of what will be, will be
 
Can't they just get married in a registry office, then get the mortgage and have the big wedding later on ?
 
How would that help though? If they were married when applying for the mortgage then it would have to be in joint names and this is what they are trying to avoid, if they were applying jointly and owning the house jointly the gift issue wouldn't matter.
 
Perplexed said:
I did suggest this myself but you still have to get the licence 3 months before !
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It's still only three months, and they can go to court to get this waived if they want, it's mainly to prove that they are serious about getting married and aren't just doing it on a whim.
 
Thanks wbbs! It's funny that when you get in a panic about something you often miss the obvious!!
 
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