Gifting 2nd home to my son?

[SueDonim]

Hello

I have tried searching for help on this subject but most articles keep going on about the property being subject to brightline testing.

I have my own house and lived in it freehold for 26 years. I bought a 2nd house across the road 5 years ago and it is also freehold and not subject to the brightline test. I am now 64 years old and feel I have sufficient money to see out the remainder of my life without having to sell the 2nd house. 
Here is my question: My only child who is 32 currently lives in the house and I would like my son to have the house as a gift without any money changing hands. Can I do this without having to place the house into a trust or pay a huge tax bill as I simply want him to have a good start in life? I am not sure what would happen if for some reason I ended up in a rest home at some stage as my current house would be more than enough equity to pay rest home expenses if required.

Thanks in advance for any input.

I would totally recommend you get advice from a property lawyer, or at least a property accountant. Someone who really knows.

I presume your use of the word "freehold" intends to mean "unencumbered" - ie with no mortgage. "Freehold" actually means the opposite of leasehold, regardless of mortgage status.

To refer to your question, you seem to understand something of where the risk might come from - the potential future need for rest home care. It's not as simple as "my current house would be more than enough equity to pay rest home expenses". If you need resthome care you need to pay for it. If you have cash, fine. You can then also offset the costs with rent from the house you no longer occupy. And depending on how much cash you have and rent you can get, that might be sufficient. The resthome is likely to be over $80,000 a year at today's numbers, so if you are in the home for years (which can happen) and you run out of cash and the rent you take in is not enough then you would need to move to Plan B. Which is to raise some more money by selling your house.

If you reach a point where the proceeds from your house have run out, you are likely to then ask the government for assistance. They would then look into your affairs and, if you had sold or gifted your other house to a family member that might need to be clawed back. Even if you did it 20 years before for totally unrelated reasons. I had a family member in this situation - they had bought a half share in their parent's house  more than 20 years before the parent needed care. But the fact that half of the house was in different ownership made no difference. It was resolved, but was a very near thing, and scary at a time when everyone was feeling pretty vulnerable emotionally.

So please, get proper advice on how you can give what you want to your son without the risk of him losing it in future. Or you not being able to get the care you need when you need it.