Getting married - what difference will it make?

northern_at_heart

My partner and I bought a house last year as Tenants in Common (although we haven’t got round to drawing up a Declaration of how much each of us will own). We are now about to get married. What difference will this make to our house ownership? Neither of us have a will. We just want each other to inherit everything if the worst happens.

Basically – if one of us dies before we get married, what happens to the house and all our other assets?
And if we don’t take any other action, what would happen to these once we’re married?

Do we need to do anything?

JodyBPM

It won't make any difference to the house ownership as such, but once married, if you die intestate (without a will) your estate, including your share of the house will automatically pass, tax free to your spouse.

northern_at_heart

Thanks. At the moment, would it go to our next of kin (parents? as we have no children)?

pinkteapot

If one of you were to die before you get married, it would get messy with regard to the house.

As tennants in common, you each own 50% of the house (or whatever % amounts were specified by your agreement). On death, this share in the house forms part of your estate. If someone dies without a will, there are rules for how their estate is divided out and it's not just to immediate family (e.g. parents). Most distant relatives get a look in.

Info on the different legal forms of joint house ownership:
http://www.firstrungnow.com/joint-ownership/joint-tenancy-tenants-in-common.aspx

TonyMMM

Without a will..(simplified version)

At the moment, your half of the house would go to your siblings/parents, once married it would go to your spouse (up to a limit ). Once children come along, rules change again. You need to read up on the rules around intestacy. Once married you may want to change the ownership of the house to Joint Tenants, which means it automatically goes to the other party (both ways have advantages and disadvantages).

To make it much simpler all round, and to be certain your wishes are followed ....make a will.

cramg

For the sake of a few hundred pounds, take out a will and define your requests - and don't use one of these cheap internet wills . If you use a good advisor, ask them about placing the house in trust.

puddy

we have a declaration of trust. without a will, if one of us died the one left would face home ownership with up to 4 other people (parents and siblings), each of us would not be able to afford to buy the other beneficiaries out, so it was really important

i thought that unless you draw up a declaration of trust (which you say you havent done),then you are not tenants in common, you are joint owners?