Declaration of trust - changing after completion?

Jaikagen

We are getting a large proportion of our deposit from our inlaws as a gifted deposit. Originally, they wanted a declaration of trust in place stating that should mine and my partners relationship fail, and the house be sold, their money shall be returned to them. After upteen conversations of me trying to prove this would make the money no longer a gift, finally, when they were told this by the solicitor, they agreed that this would make us getting the mortgage impossible and backed down.

Instead, a declaration of trust has been made between my partner and myself, stating that he will get the deposit money, then the remainder shall be split equally between us.

This leaves me with 14% of the house value, al of which in the mortgage amount as it stands. My partner agrees that this is "unfair", as should something happen with my family, he would be entitled to 50% of my inheritance, where as i am entitled to nothing of his. He wants to change this after, as if we said no to it at this point, we are worried about his parents pulling out of the deal.

We dont want to change it to 50/50 as his inheritance is worth a great deal more than what i would get, but, to a level where by i stand a chance of going on to be able to buy again should the house be sold, so possibly 65/35.

Will this be possible to change at a later date? It is being done along side the land registry etc according to the letters i received from the solicitors this morning. We both feel we should have a say in splitting of this money, and im not so money grabbing that i am demanding half of it, which is how i feel my IL's are feeling, but i would in the event of a split be the primary carer of our 3 children, and i want to make sure should we split, i will be able to provide this standard of housing for them, not just be left with half of the mortgage iygwim?

Thanks in advance.

ognum

Why dont you take out an insurance policy that pays of the value of the mortgage plus the amount due to his parents if he dies? That way you could stay in the house

poppysarah

You should have had this discussion before you bought a house.

Are you planning on getting married?

Jaikagen

That wont be an issue, i wouldnt be kicked out of the house should he die. His parents were fine with us selling up and moving on to another property, more so that we sell up and kept the money and went back to rented, which will never happen, providing that money is kept in property to house their grandchildren, they are fine with it. Im more concerned about us splitting up and the house having to be sold, and me being left with nothing to "start again", my partner would be able to do so easily with the deposit amount being so large, but i would be left with very little

Jaikagen

poppysarah wrote: »

You should have had this discussion before you bought a house.

Are you planning on getting married?

We did. When we were offered the deposit, and reserved the house, and arranged the mortgage, and spoke to the solicitors, etc etc etc we were under the impression it was a gift, no strings attached. We are now a week off completing and my in laws have thrown this declaration into the mix :S

We are getting married in May, but have been together 11 years

poppysarah

Jaikagen wrote: »

We did. When we were offered the deposit, and reserved the house, and arranged the mortgage, and spoke to the solicitors, etc etc etc we were under the impression it was a gift, no strings attached. We are now a week off completing and my in laws have thrown this declaration into the mix :S

I'm assuming you can't buy the house without this large deposit and that you've exchanged?


What happens if you don't sign it? (with the inlaws ...)

ognum

Jaikagen wrote: »

That wont be an issue, i wouldnt be kicked out of the house should he die. His parents were fine with us selling up and moving on to another property, more so that we sell up and kept the money and went back to rented, which will never happen, providing that money is kept in property to house their grandchildren, they are fine with it. Im more concerned about us splitting up and the house having to be sold, and me being left with nothing to "start again", my partner would be able to do so easily with the deposit amount being so large, but i would be left with very little

Well I guess if you start with very little and a large gifted deposit you cannot expect to leave with a bigger percentage than you put in!
It is my belief that if you gift money then once given the recipients can do what they like with it otherwise its not a gift

badaz52

Any deed of trust can be changed but only if all parties agree to it. It is a legally binding agreement between 2 or more parties. I have just done the same, my parents have sold their house and used that money to purchase a home with me, I am the legal owner of the new house and am currently paying a mortgage for the difference. In a way they have gifted me the money to buy my first house on the provision if it is to be sold in future they get their money back plus any extra if the house increases in value.

If they wanted to change any percentages we would all have to agree.

Jaikagen

As you said, a gift is a gift, for the person to do with how they wish, and my partner doesnt want this either, but he doesnt want to upset his parents this late on either.

We cant buy this house without the deposit no, and we couldnt buy on our own a property large enough to house us all, which is why his parents have stepped in, ultimately for their grandkids rather than us, making sure we can move to a nice area close to decent schools etc for them. We are due to sign the contracts later today, and afaik, my inlaws will then send the money over after we have done this, they will also be with us, so we really dont have a choice.

They always have to make everything much more complicated in the final moments than it was when the initial conversations began! Its turning into a proper nightmare from what originally sounded quite simple!

ognum

Jaikagen wrote: »

As you said, a gift is a gift, for the person to do with how they wish, and my partner doesnt want this either, but he doesnt want to upset his parents this late on either.

We cant buy this house without the deposit no, and we couldnt buy on our own a property large enough to house us all, which is why his parents have stepped in, ultimately for their grandkids rather than us, making sure we can move to a nice area close to decent schools etc for them. We are due to sign the contracts later today, and afaik, my inlaws will then send the money over after we have done this, they will also be with us, so we really dont have a choice.

They always have to make everything much more complicated in the final moments than it was when the initial conversations began! Its turning into a proper nightmare from what originally sounded quite simple!

I am afraid that you and your future husband need to say to them that either it is a gift or it is not!
You do realise they can hold this over you for ever if they are making such a big deal of it now Perhaps its better not to have it and live within your means unless it can be gven wholey without strings attached
Just my thoughts!

Jaikagen

Once it has gone through they will have no claim over the money what so ever. The declaration that is being done is purely between my partner and myself, so he will get the original amount rather than them, we just want to change it slightly saying that he wouldn't get as high a percentage. If only the parties involved have to agree to it, then it shouldnt be an issue [from above poster] i just wasnt sure if it were possible at all to change something connected to the house at any point in time