*Updated - more confused now* Joint tenancy, or tenants in common?

beckstrous

I'm sorry to keep posting questions here but the people I usually ask about these things (my parents!) are on holiday. Therefore I'd appreciate any help...

My boyfriend and I are buying a house and will be contributing equally to everything apart from the deposit. He is contributing £15k and I am contributing £5k. Neither of us have wills (and would probably not welcome the expense of drawing them up) and I am not sure whether we should have a joint tenancy or be tenants in common. I had just assumed it would be a joint tenancy (I thought that tenants in common was for friends that bought together) but I am not sure now.

We do hope to get married in the future. Of course I like to see us doing everything jointly, as a team, but I am all too conscious of the fact that he is putting in 3/4 of the deposit compared to my pitiful 1/4 (I had debts during my early 20s and did not save). If the very worst happened and we split (I do not think this will happen and nor do I want it to), there is no way I would try to claim more than my share (though I might need some help working out exactly what that was!) - I am not motivated by money - but I don't know what the best way to do things would be legally. With tenants in common it is a worry that if either one of us was to die the other person could be left homeless as it were. My thought is therefore to go for the joint tenancy and if the worst happened, know that he could trust me to do things fairly - I am just not that sort of person to do otherwise.

If anyone could offer any advice I would really appreciate it. I have searched the forums and read the other threads, but I am still not sure.

saver_sam

This is from 1994 when we bought our first house (yes I know, perhaps a little sad to still have all this, but we hope to move so I dug it all out), and our solicitor wrote to us and said

' As tenants in common you would each have a distinct half share of any equity in the property which you could leave to whoever you nominated in your will. If you want this option you should also make wills as otherwise the share would be distributed under the Intestacy rules, ie go to any children then your parents, etc. Also you would both have to agree to any sale.'

'As joint tenants, which is the usual option for married couples, the half share in the property automatically goes to the other in the event of death. No will is required for this to happen and the survivor can sell the property and keep the net sale proceeds.'

So anyway, at the time we were not married and opted for joint tenants, then married a year later.

Your solicitor should advise you what is best for you circumstances, as you have unequal deposits and what the up to date legal position is.

gazza007

I'm not an expert but offer advice from personal experiences of myself & friends.
Talk with your conveyancing solicitor about the tenacy . I would also have a co-habitation agreement drawn up and put all the details in there, you can do this yourselves but a solicitor will do it for a price. This will protect your initial investments and set things out for the future, you can say that in the event of separation that you both receive your initial investments back and any profits are split 50/50, & retain any items that were bought individualy or were gifts. You can also have a caveat in the document that in the event of marriage the document should be reviewed or become void etc.


It is important also to set up wills, these should be less than £100 you can again do most of the work yourself & save cash. Keep solicitors letters, appointments & phone calls to a min.

Always get an up-front price for lawyers work.

My motto is "Always expect the Unexpected in life, as it does happen"
It's nice to be in a relationship & in love but you never know?
If you can both agree & set financial arrangements in-place it makes life easier if unforseen events in the future arise.

Good luck with everything for the future

claz

my partner and i have just bought a house and we decided to go for joint tenants

i had the similar problem but mine being that in June my OH will be bringing home triple what i do. I felt that i wouldn't be contribuing enough to the house the OH said a few things that made sense (for a change)

if he were to die (has a dangerous job) he wants to know that i will be safe and will have somewhere to live which is why we are paying a huge amount of life assurance

i supported him, paid debts etc when he was out of work

you are a team apart from the deposit i presume that almost everything is split equally, speak to him about it i think you will find that he will say that he wants to make sure you are safe if the worst happens and i bet you want the same from him

Barney088

My first house with partner was on tennants in common to protect either of us from the other if the worst happend. SInce then we have been married for a good number of years and hope this will last. Our two properties since have been on a joint basis.

Take from this what you want, it worked for us and avoided any doubt

However, if you go with one over the other think about death, sad as it may be. In common the estate of the dead one will own the house and this is why the will would be an important thing to get sorted. In worst case scenario the estate could move in, that's you mother and father in law (I know you not married) his sister, brother. They could decisde to rent the house out, they could insist on it being sold.

Definitly get a will if you do tennants in common.

Ken68

Hi Beck...can I ask a question over your question...am joint tenant with a brother who lives elswhere.....both unmarried......would I have to sell up if he dies before me, or pay any capital gains tax.

HGLTsuperstar

If you're living there then no CGT to pay, and even if your brother dies, you only pay CGT if you sell. You say you're joint tenants, so it will pass to you. But you should both sort out wills and discuss their contents with each other at the time, so the survivor isn't left with a messy situation with other family members etc.

sleepy

My partner and I have just bought our first house together (have rented together for last 3 years), and we decided to summarise the question as "are we more likely to die or split up?". We decided that after 3 years living together we trusted each other and knew each other enough to go for joint tennents.

beckstrous

Thanks to everyone who has replied - it is helpful to get as much feedback as I can. I have asked a friend who bought in a similar situation (equal contributions to costs, unequal deposits) and they did it jointly. They did unfortunately split up but worked out the house issues amicably. I am still pondering the whole thing but don't want to ring the solicitor just yet in case he charges for the phone call :-o !!

beckstrous

sleepy wrote:

My partner and I have just bought our first house together (have rented together for last 3 years), and we decided to summarise the question as "are we more likely to die or split up?". We decided that after 3 years living together we trusted each other and knew each other enough to go for joint tennents.

Very useful way of putting it, thank you.

beckstrous

Hmm...my boyfriend has said in the event of his death he would prefer his share to go to his parents, which makes me a bit nervous about it all now.

I am not after his money, but want to know that deep down he is 100% committed and to me that suggests otherwise - am I being paranoid?