Add name to property/title deeds

FineBoneChina_2

Hi,

I have a question of "Conveyancing". How do you do it?

All I know is that it has to be done by a solicitor, and that's it.

Basically, my parents finished paying their mortgage a few months ago, and they want to add my name to the Property Title Deeds. The deeds are currently held by the the Building Society for safe-keeping (I think they charge an annual £1 fee).

What do I need to do, contact the Building Society first?, or do I contact a Solictor first?, etc, etc..

Sorry, I'm completely new to this (I don't own any property).

Any help greatly appreciated

Many thanks

:beer:

westv

Any reason why they want to add your name?

FineBoneChina_2

They have always said they intended to give us (my brother, my sister and I) the house eventually and thought if they add our names to it then we will always have a home. They don't have a Will in place as the only assets they have are the house, and thought adding their Childrens names to the Deeds seemed right.

Sorry, I'm no legal expert, and that's why I have asked the question. Is this wrong?

thor

I always thought that without a will, property passes to the children automatically anyway. Maybe there is no need to add your names to the deeds?

sonastin

There will be consequences to this action that you and your parents should understand before you jump in. If you speak to a good local conveyancing solicitor, they ought to be able to explain it to you in more detail but in a nutshell...

1) If your parents end up needing care in their old age, giving their house away to their children could harm their entitlement to free care. The rules on this are always changing but it is something that needs taking into account.

2) The stamp duty exemption for first time buyers isn't going to last forever, but if you decide you want to purchase a place for yourself, you would not be considered as a first time buyer if you were included on the deeds of your parents' home. You could end up paying a big chunk in stamp duty without gaining very much from this change.

Perhaps your parents would be better off making a will instead...

FineBoneChina_2

thor wrote: »

I always thought that without a will, property passes to the children automatically anyway. Maybe there is no need to add your names to the deeds?

I didn't think it automatically passes to your children, etc. I thought the Government gets their hands on it as their is no Will to prove your children should be entitled to it. Might be wrong?

Anyway, I always thought with a Will you still pay Inheritence Tax, or is this not the case?

Any legal experts out there to clarify?

BitterAndTwisted

FineBoneChina wrote: »

I didn't think it automatically passes to your children, etc. I thought the Government gets their hands on it as their is no Will to prove your children should be entitled to it. Might be wrong?

Yes, you are wrong about this.

Anyway, I always thought with a Will you still pay Inheritence Tax, or is this not the case?

Inheritance tax depends on the value of the property at death. it's either under or over the threshold. Wills or the absence thereof don't come into it.

Any legal experts out there to clarify?

Both you and your parents need to consult a solicitor. You need to be aware of the issue of "Deprivation of Assets" especially.

FineBoneChina_2

sonastin wrote: »

There will be consequences to this action that you and your parents should understand before you jump in. If you speak to a good local conveyancing solicitor, they ought to be able to explain it to you in more detail but in a nutshell...

1) If your parents end up needing care in their old age, giving their house away to their children could harm their entitlement to free care. The rules on this are always changing but it is something that needs taking into account.

2) The stamp duty exemption for first time buyers isn't going to last forever, but if you decide you want to purchase a place for yourself, you would not be considered as a first time buyer if you were included on the deeds of your parents' home. You could end up paying a big chunk in stamp duty without gaining very much from this change.

Perhaps your parents would be better off making a will instead...

Thanks for your reply.

1. I didn't know this. However, I thought a year ago, there were all these articles about the elderly having to sell their homes to pay for them to go to Nursing Homes, and so I didn't think anyone was entitled to free healthcare. It would be interesting to find out if "free care" does actually exist?

2. I did think about the Stamp Duty exemption, however as I live in London (Greater London), with its hugely inflated prices, it is likely to involve me paying Stamp Duty to get anything that isn't the size of a matchbox or being a victim of crime every couple of months. :eek:

If my parents use a Will, will we not need to pay Inheritence Tax?

RAS

FineBoneChina wrote: »

I didn't think it automatically passes to your children, etc. I thought the Government gets their hands on it as their is no Will to prove your children should be entitled to it. Might be wrong?

very very wrong - under the law of intestacy (England and Wales), the first part of an estate passes to the surviving spouse ans then the rest to the children. If both parent die, the children split it equally.

FineBoneChina wrote: »

Anyway, I always thought with a Will you still pay Inheritence Tax, or is this not the case?

Wrong again. If the value of the property exceeds the IHT limit (which is either £350K or £385K at the moment) then IHT is payable of that part of the estate over the limit.

And if there are two parents, the limit can be twice that.

BitterAndTwisted

The use of a will has no effect on inheritance tax: it's the value of the property which is pertinent.

Is there any particular reason why only you are going to be added onto the title deeds and not your two siblings as well?

RAS

Just to add, check deprivation of assets because if it is decided that your parent are doing this to avoid nursing home fees, then they are likely to be assessed as if they still have the house.

And based on some of the nightmares on these forums, any of the following can happen

1. One of the children is made bankrupt or gets into a lot of debt. Because they own a portion of the house, they have to release this to pay creditor or creditors put a charge on the house.
2. One of the children experiences a marriage breakdown, as a result of which they have to release half the value of their portion of the house to their ex-spouse.
3. The house needs major repairs and the children have to stump up.

You need legal advice, separately.