Help! who owns what when a joint mortgage/owner dies?

daveh4

Help please. My ex-partner and I have a property that is on a joint mortgage. we split 6 months ago, both in our 50's and neithers health is good. the property is rented out and that covers the mortgage and repairs. My ex lives elsewhere (inheiritence) and I live in rented rooms.
I've heard several stories of what would happen if one person dies. 1 - beneficiaries of the deceased would own half the property outright but as sole survivor of the mortgage, the survivor would owe the entire mortgage to pay off out of their half.
2 - As joint owners, and mortgage holders, the survivor would own the property outright irrespective of the deceased wishes and would have to sell to clear the mortgage.
3 - On event of death, the property would be sold and split 50-50 after debts or the survivor could buy out the other half from the estate of the deceased.
what is correct please??
thanks in advance

Senior_Paper_Monitor

All depends on the nature of your tenancy (the structure of the deeds) - Tenants in Common or Joint Tenants, it is likely (but by no means certain) that you are on the latter, whihc means total ownership would transfer to the survivor (although some debts can force this back to Tenants in common so that debt can be satisfied against the dead partners share).

You do not say whether you are/were married - nor whether there are any wills or other instruction doicuments in place - all of these issues impact on the outcome.

Some mortgage brokers/advisors, most IFAs, any trust/estate planners or solicitors will be able to assist in finding out the exact position you are in and advising on and/or arranging appropriate changes (depending upon the level of co-operation received from both ex-partners).

This sounds like an urgent issue to sort our ASAP in my opinion !!

Thrugelmir

What are the long term plans for the property?

daveh4

Thanks for the advice guys. we weren't married, lived together 10 years, no wills either way at present (as far as i know) and only a standard mortgage took out, nothing special. as its only a rental place, not the family home, I'd like to sell it and close our joint finances.

Thrugelmir

Selling seems the logical step if there are no long term plans for the property.

Without clear instruction in your respective wills. Resolving the issue could be unnecessarily complex for the surviving party.