My first husband is deceased and I remarried more than 20 years ago. I have two children and my second husband has three children.

The house we live in is worth approximately £385,000 and is in my sole name as it was paid for before my husband moved in.

1. ‎ If I put the house in both of our names (50/50 share) would I then have to use his share of the house to fund any future care home needs he may have (he is nine years older than me and we are both pensioners)?

2. If the house stays in my sole name, am I correct in thinking that on my death my estate will receive the £325,000 inheritance tax allowance plus £125,000 allowance for leaving the house to my two children? I assume the estate would not benefit from the £325,000 allowance from my husband as his name is not on the deeds?

We have adequate pensions to cover our everyday needs so my capital won't go down unless I spend it on holidays or home improvements.

I currently have £200,000 in savings so I am looking to see what options I have and would appreciate any guidance that you can provide.

Heather Rogers replies: Your questions about home ownership, care costs and inheritance tax will be of interest to many readers.

And as you are a widow, there are further matters to consider regarding your late husband’s estate.

Let's look at each of these topics in turn, but first there is an important issue to clarify regarding inheritance tax thresholds.

The main threshold, the nil rate band of £325,000 (£650,000 for a couple), applies to the whole of an estate.

The additional residence nil rate band of up to £175,000 (£350,000 for a couple), for those passing a property to direct descendants, applies to the family home.

Inheritance tax and home ownership

Family home is solely in the name of one spouse or civil partner

Regarding inheritance tax, it is worth noting here that many people worry they will not be able to use the RNRB if a property is in the name of one spouse only.

They wrongly believe that if the non-home owning spouse dies first, they will not have any property to leave to their descendants.

But RNRB is transferrable between spouses in the same way as the NRB.

Providing that an estate qualifies for RNRB, then both spouses' allowances should be available to offset on the second death.

So in answer to your question, if your current husband dies first, any of his unused NRB and RNRB will pass to your estate, or yours will go to his estate if you die first.

Joint tenants, where both own the property together as one

Both spouses own the property but they own it together. Although they might technically own 50/50, the actual split is not identified and they are treated as owning the property jointly – as one, if you like.

On the death of the first spouse, the property automatically passes to the second spouse under what is known as the survivorship rules.

Nothing contained within the will can change that – the survivorship rules override the will.

This means that there is no choice as to how the property is passed on after the death of the first spouse.

This can be an issue if both parties have been married before and have children from earlier relationships.

Tenants in common, where you own a specific share of the property each

This is where you own a specific share each, and therefore can decide what happens to your share on your death, as it does not automatically pass to the other co-owner.

If your property is owned as tenants in common, there will be a restriction noted at the land registry and it will say: 'No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.'

How does the RNRB work?

The residence nil rate band enables a residence to be passed to lineal descendants, meaning your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on - see a fuller list below.

It is worth up to £175,000 (£350,000 for a couple) depending on the value of the property, on net estates worth below £2million.

On net estates over £2million, the RNRB is reduced by £1 for every £2 it exceeds £2million, and it vanishes on those worth £2.3million or more.

The maximum that can be claimed is equal to the value of the person’s home that passes to their direct descendants, subject to any reduction to the allowance on estates exceeding £2million.

A qualifying 'residence' means any property that the deceased lived in as their home and was included in their estate.

It doesn’t have to be their main residence, or have been lived in or owned for a specified period of time, and for UK estates it can even apply to a property overseas.

However, the RNRB can only be applied to one property. And any property that the deceased owned, but never lived in - such as a rental property owned by the deceased - is not a residence and is not eligible for the RNRB.

Meanwhile, lineal or direct descendants are children, grandchildren, stepchildren, adopted or foster children, children to which the deceased was a guardian, and all of above children's own direct descendants.

Direct descendants also include the spouse or civil partner of a direct descendant, or a surviving spouse or civil partner, if they have not remarried at the time of the deceased’s death.

It does not include nieces or nephews or any other relatives.

When someone has sold, given away or downsized to a less valuable home before they die, their estate may still be able to get the residence nil rate band if they qualify for a downsizing addition.

To qualify, all these conditions must apply:

- The person sold, gave away or downsized to a less valuable home, on or after 8 July 2015;

- The former home would have qualified for the RNRB if they’d kept it until they died;

- The direct descendants inherit at least some of the estate.

What are your options on care costs?

The family home is normally discounted for care fees of the spouse needing care, if the other spouse is still living it, regardless of how it is owned.

However, if the property remains in your name only and you need care at some point in the future, then if your husband is no longer living in the property at that time, all of the house could be used to pay for your care.

You could therefore transfer half of the property to your husband, using the tenants in common ownership arrangement.

You could both then have an interest in possession (life interest) trust created in your wills, meaning that the half you own each is left to the beneficiaries of your choice.

However, the surviving spouse has the right to remain in the property for the rest of their life and provision can be made in the life interest trust for a property downsize.

These types of trusts are often known as property life interest trusts.

This trust protects half of the property when there is only one remaining spouse alive, from 50 per cent of the property being assessed if that spouse needs care.

If the trust was created for the protection of both spouse and beneficiaries, it is unlikely to be viewed as 'deprivation of assets' in a care fee assessment by your local authority.

It can also protect against disinheritance and will protect the surviving spouse from the home being sold or misused.

On the death of the surviving spouse, the value of half of the property owned by the trust as well as the value of the surviving spouse’s half will form part of their estate for inheritance tax.

However, the trustees are responsible for any inheritance tax portion on the value of the trust assets.

Unlike with discretionary trusts, the RNRB is still available to claim on the estate.

You and your husband need to talk to a solicitor concerning your particular circumstances to see if this right for you both.

They can deal with the change of title at the Land Registry as well if this is something you decide to do.

Also, you would both need to draw up new wills for you both to incorporate the trust.

What about your late first husband?

As explained above, if your current husband dies first, any of his unused NRB and RNRB will pass to your estate.

However, because your first husband died and you then remarried, your first husband would also have had a NRB, though not an RNRB which did not exist at the time.

Depending on what happened on his death, as the rules on unused NRBs were different 20 years ago, this may or may not have been used.

It may therefore still be available for use.

If it is, careful drafting of your will to avoid it going to waste is necessary.

This could include leaving assets other than the family home to a trust, or directly to your children.

I would therefore advise making an appointment with a wills trust and probate solicitor. You can find one in your area on the Law Society website.