Reverse Mortgage For Your Parents
A HECM is your parent’s loan on your parent’s home. Here is what a son or daughter can do to help, what the rules do not allow, and who has to sign and attend counseling.
Quick answer
Saxton Mortgage does. At least one HECM program we offer lets a parent get a HECM on their own primary residence, but an adult child who will not live there cannot be a co-borrower. If a child holds power of attorney and signs for the parent, the child must also attend HECM counseling. A power of attorney or guardian cannot use that authority to transfer the home to themselves.
Where an adult child fits
Under FHA’s HECM rules, every borrower must be at least 62 by closing and live in the home as their principal residence. Our reverse mortgage program adds its own limits on top.
- You can be a borrower only if you are 62 or older by closing, hold title, are on the Note, and the home is your principal residence too.
- Our program does not allow non-occupant co-borrowers, so a child who lives elsewhere cannot join the loan.
- If you are on title but not a borrower, you are a non-borrowing owner. You attend counseling, sign the mortgage, and consent to your parent’s HECM.
- You can sign for your parent only under a durable power of attorney that gives you specific authority to obligate your parent, and you must attend HECM counseling to do it.
- A court-appointed conservator or guardian can sign for a parent who lacks legal competency. Our program also needs the court to approve the reverse mortgage.
- Property taxes, insurance premiums, and HOA dues stay your parent’s obligations under FHA’s HECM rules.
You must live there to borrow
No non-occupant co-borrowers
Owners on title sign too
Agents attend counseling
Guardians need court approval
Property charges stay due
How A Power Of Attorney Works
FHA’s HECM rules set the basics when a power of attorney is used, and our reverse mortgage program adds steps. The steps depend on whether your parent is still competent.
If your parent is legally competent, FHA’s HECM rules require your parent to receive HECM counseling before the application is processed, even when an agent will sign. An agent can sign the application and closing documents only with a durable power of attorney that gives specific authority to obligate your parent, and only after receiving HECM counseling. Our program also requires your parent to sign the counseling certificate and initial application forms, and the file needs a physician’s letter showing your parent was competent when the power of attorney was signed.
If your parent lacks legal competency, HECM counseling is completed by the person holding the power of attorney or by a court-appointed conservator or guardian, and your parent does not sign the application. Our program requires that the power of attorney was signed while your parent was still competent, with a physician’s letter confirming it. In every case, our program needs the power of attorney to be complete, fully signed, revocable, and in effect when the loan application is taken. Some powers of attorney do not take effect until a person becomes disabled, so they may not be valid while your parent is still competent.
An agent or guardian cannot use that authority to transfer your parent’s home to themselves. Our program calls this a self-serving transfer, and it is not allowed. If your parent’s home is held in a trust, see our reverse mortgage trust page for who signs what.
What families should know
This page is for sons and daughters helping a parent 62 or older look at a HECM. The decision belongs to your parent; your role is to help them get clear answers.
Your Parent Is The Borrower
Every borrower must be at least 62 by closing, hold title, and live in the home as their principal residence. Our program does not allow non-occupant co-borrowers, so you cannot join the loan unless all of that is true for you too.
Everyone On Title Attends Counseling
In our program, everyone on title attends counseling, signs the counseling certificate, consents to the HECM, and signs the security instrument.
Trustees Can Be Under 62
In our program, a son or daughter under 62 can serve as trustee of a parent’s revocable living trust, as long as the parent created the trust and has full rights to its assets. The trustee signs the security instrument for the trust but cannot sign loan documents on the parent’s behalf. An irrevocable trust cannot hold the home in our program.
Guardians Need Court Approval
A court-appointed conservator or guardian may sign for a parent who lacks legal competency. The lender needs the court order, and our program needs the complete guardianship papers and the court’s approval to move forward with the reverse mortgage.
Residents Who Are Not Borrowers
If you live in the home or are on title but do not qualify as a borrower, our program calls for a conversation with you about what it means not to be on the loan. Every non-borrowing resident signs a Notice to Non-Borrowing Resident.
Long Care Stays Matter
If your parent is away for more than 12 consecutive months because of physical or mental illness, and no other borrower lives in the home as a principal residence, the loan can become due and payable with HUD’s approval.
Hear From Homeowners Like You
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions adult children ask when a parent is looking at a reverse mortgage.
Saxton Mortgage does. At least one HECM program we offer lets a parent get a HECM on their own primary residence, but an adult child who will not live there cannot be a co-borrower. If a child holds power of attorney and signs for the parent, the child must also attend HECM counseling. A power of attorney or guardian cannot use that authority to transfer the home to themselves.
Only if you are 62 or older by closing, hold title, are on the Note, and the home is your principal residence too. Our program does not allow non-occupant co-borrowers.
Yes, within FHA’s and our program’s rules. The power of attorney must be durable and give you specific authority to obligate your parent, and you must attend HECM counseling. If your parent is competent, your parent is also counseled, and our program has your parent sign the counseling certificate and initial application forms and needs a physician’s letter. If your parent is not competent, our program requires that the power of attorney was signed while your parent was still competent.
No. Our program does not allow a self-serving transfer, where an agent under a power of attorney or a guardian uses that authority to move the home from the parent to themselves.
You can stay on title as a non-borrowing owner. You receive HECM counseling before the application is processed, sign the mortgage, and sign a certification consenting to your parent’s HECM. If you signed away your ownership interest in the six months before the application date, our program still requires you to attend counseling and sign an ownership certification.
Yes. FHA’s HECM rules let a family member give gift funds, meaning cash with no expectation of repayment. The lender needs a gift letter signed and dated by you and your parent that lists your contact details, your relationship, the gift amount, and a statement that no repayment is required. Cash on hand is not an acceptable source.
Depending on the situation, the lender may ask for proof of age, such as a driver’s license, passport, or birth certificate; proof of each borrower’s Social Security number; the latest Social Security award letter if that income is used; tax bills or canceled checks covering the last 24 months of property taxes; insurance bills covering the last 12 months; the complete trust, if there is one; and the power of attorney or court papers.
When the loan becomes due after a death, the lender must notify the estate or heirs and give them options, including paying off the loan or selling the home for at least the lesser of the balance or 95 percent of the current appraised value. Our reverse mortgage after death page, linked below, has the details.
Find out what you qualify for
Tell us about your parent’s home, who is on title, and what your parent wants the money to do, and we will walk you both through which rules apply.
Get Pre-Qualified- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA and housing resources
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA mortgage insurance premiums
Loan amounts, rates, terms, and eligibility are subject to credit approval, asset and income verification, appraisal, and program guidelines. Program availability varies by state. Not all applicants will qualify. Saxton Mortgage, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender.