Disability changed my property situation – any advice please?

Sorry if this is all a bit confusing and long winded, but here goes: My hubby and I have property as follows: Home valued at $400,000, investment unit valued at $290,000. Our mortgage is $320,000. I have a disability which has progressed to the point where, after years of fighting, I have to give up my job.

Having paid taxes for 30 years, my doctor insists I apply for a disability support pension, which I am going to do, at least for a while (I am still hoping to find some suitable work but it seems almost impossible).

So we have elected to sell our investment unit. My 70 year old father and his 57 year old wife (who lost their home due to a dishonest business partner some years ago), would like to buy this unit, but cannot get finance due to my fathers age. He is a self-employed tradesman, very fit, earning good money and will able to work for at least another five years.

His wife, although also working, does not qualify for mortgage finance on her own. I want to help my dad, and my husband and I are willing to transfer the sale price of the unit (agreed at $275,000) to a sub-account on our portfolio loan, which the rent will then go into and my father and his wife will pay the balance.

We will sign legal documents to the effect that both the property and the debt are the legal responsibility of my father and his wife – but will this be enough evidence for Centrelink or will they still deem my husband and myself as owners of the unit and responsible for the debt?

I know we could sell privately buy my father has been wonderful to me – adapting our home to make life easy for me and providing endless support through some bad times. I would like to see him have a home to retire in, and this may be his only chance. But I can't do this if it means my husband and myself will be unable to live comfortably until I at least find (hopefully) an employer willing to take a chance on me again. My condition requires a lot of special accommodations and not many firms will make these type of allowances.

I have tried to talk to Centrelink and gotten many different responses. I admit that I have ended up in tears of frustration at times. So I thought maybe forum members had some advice or had experienced something similar?

Any advice, even something very small, would be such a help to me. Many thanks.

VJ.