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unmarried, one dies, what about the house?

Turtle
Turtle Posts: 999 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
in Insurance & life assurance
Hello there

My boyfriend and I have lived in our house for 9 years. We don't have a will (yet) but both our parents have always said they would give the house half of the deceased party to the surviving party. (I'm very sure this would happen, we've been together for 12 years and both families have always got on very well). I do realise by the way that things change and we need to make a will stating our wishes. In the meantime though - we were told today that the above wasn't allowed to happen and the Government would force the sale to release the assets. I just can't believe this can be true but can anyone shed any light on this?
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Comments

  • tanith
    tanith Posts: 8,091 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    It would depend on the answers to some questions...... do you own the house? how do you own,as joint tenants or tenants in common? Do either of you have any children?
    Of course making a will is the best solution ....
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  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 74,408 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Who actually owns the house and whose name is on the deeds?

    There is no such thing as a common law marriage so as it stands it will all depend on who is named where and who owns what.
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  • Andy_L
    Andy_L Posts: 13,074 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Worst case, your BF dies, his share of the house (which could be all all or none of it depending on how you are ste up) passes to his parents. They (not the government) can then force you to sell to release their assets.
    There may be a (verbal) agreement that they give the share to you but that's only worth the paper it's not written on in court.
    This can be avoided by writing a will and/or changing they way you jointly own the house
  • Turtle
    Turtle Posts: 999 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    I think we own tenants in common which I why we could potentially have this problem. i know that a verbal agreement is worth nothing and would not stand up and I know that we need to make a will. However I am enquiring about the position without a will. Both our names are on the deeds and neither of us have children. Aside from the will issue, would changing to being joint tenants mean that the house would automatically pass to the surviving party or does this only happen if you are married?

    Thanks for help so far.
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    If you own a house as joint tenants and one party dies, the survivor owns it 100%. AFAIK this doesn't depend on being married or not.

    However, there are few other rights to an unmarried live-in partner. Forget 'common-law marriage' - it doesn't exist.
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
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  • seven-day-weekend
    seven-day-weekend Posts: 36,755 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Have a look at this flow chart

    http://www.treth.co.uk/resources/flowchart%20rules%20intestacy.pdf

    (It's much easier just to make a will!)
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
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  • jeanette251978
    jeanette251978 Posts: 451 Forumite
    When me and my boyfriend brought our house we were asked how we would wish to deal with such a situation, this was dealt with by our solicitor at the time, we opted for each other to gain 100% of the property.
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    jeanette251978 wrote: »
    When me and my boyfriend brought our house we were asked how we would wish to deal with such a situation, this was dealt with by our solicitor at the time, we opted for each other to gain 100% of the property.

    So you have a joint tenancy.
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • Debt_Free_Chick
    Debt_Free_Chick Posts: 13,276 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Turtle wrote: »
    I think we own tenants in common which I why we could potentially have this problem.

    Agreed. If either of you dies, then that share of the property goes into the deceased's estate along with all their other assets e.g. savings. The estate is then split up according to the will. If no will, then according to the laws of intestacy. If you are not married and have no children, then you "do not count" as far as the intestacy rules are concerned.

    Now then ..... there will be an executor of the estate who's job it is to turn the assets into cash and then pay out the cash in line with the will. Your problem would be if your bf died, you would still be in the house, but the executor would want half the value of the house as cash to pay out according to the will.

    If you have life assurance/mortgage protection, then the mortgage will have been paid off. So you would be in the house mortgage-free. You could then raise a mortgage for half the value to give to the executor.

    Or, both of your wills could leave half the house to eachother.

    Or, you change from tenants in common to joint tenants.
    Warning ..... I'm a peri-menopausal axe-wielding maniac ;)
  • CLAPTON
    CLAPTON Posts: 41,865 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    another issue you may need to consider is Inheritance tax... this would only be applicable if the deceased estate was worth more than the IHT allowance (currently 312,000)
    If you were marrried then the deceased estate can pass to the surviving spouse without IHT. However, if you are not married the IHT must be paid.. potentially meaning the house may have to be sold.
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