Joint tennants or tennants in common?

The decision rests on your desire as to who should own your share of the property when you die.

If you want the other co-owner(s) to own the property when you die (and vice versa) then you own it as joint tenants. This will override what your Will says if you have one.

If instead you don't want the other co owner to own it when you die then you own it as tenants in common. In which case it is essential that you draw up a Will to specify who should inherit your share.

For example a group of friends buying a property together are likely to want their family to inherit their share if they died rather than their friends - so opt for tenancy in common.

Couples who fear that their surviving spouse/partner might remarry/have more children/waste their inheritance/require long term care after they've died and therefore disinherit their children (particularly where there are children from a previous relationship) might also opt to own as tenants in common.

It really depends on the individual circumstances. Remember also that you can convert from joint tenants to tenants in common relatively easily later on if your circumstances change.

One advantage of owning the property as joint tenants is that the remaining co-owner(s) will not be required to obtain a grant of probate to receive the property on the death of a co-owner in contrast to the position where the property is owned as tenants in common.

You are probably better as joint tenants although it would have helped if in the original post you had said you were married as it makes quite a difference because you get two sets of IHT allowances so on the second death (if the first to die hadn't given anything in his/her will to anyone but the surviving spouse) at the moment the threshold is effectively £624,000 on the death of the survivor.

Being tenants in common used to assist with IHT because it meant that the first to die of a married couple could leave up to the threshold to someone else (typically in trust for the children) - that made the second spouse that much poorer and reduced the tax liability on the second death - there would be none on the first death. Thi sis no longer necessary.

alm721 wrote:

just wanted other people opinions over the pros/cons of holding property as either joint tennants or tennants in common. We are moving and have been asked this by our solicitor.

The solicitor really should have explained all this to you - do they not bother these days?

alm721 wrote:

He did say we'd dicuss it when we meet.

Then why on earth did he ask you in advance how you wanted to own the property? Surely he/she should have said, "At the meeting I will explain the difference between joint tenants and tenants in common?"

Here's your original post:

alm721 wrote:

We are moving and have been asked this by our solicitor.

I just find it incredible that you had to resort to an internet discussion board to find out something that at the end of the day is extremely important. :eek:

Fair enough, you've made your pitch. It just seems to me like the OP has just been asked to decide without being given any literature in advance which strikes me as very sloppy on the part of the solicitor.