Parents giving my partner and I £50 000 deposit... how do I safeguard this money?

lessonlearned

Yes.

If you want real proper constructive legal bullet proof protection then you have to pay for it.

Simple.

Why do you think rich people get rich and stay rich. Because they are prepared to pay for the best advice and legal protection that money can buy.

You can easily do your own Wills, and Powers of Attorney. However, you do need to get them right. If not you make matters worse. This is especially important when you are not married. Issues of guardianship etc do have to be taken into account. This is why I suggest a consultation with a solicitor.

There is nothing to stop Olympicsmummy from finding out what is best and then taking a pick and mix approach, completing Will Forms etc herself to save money.

Trusts etc are more complicated and are best left to the professionals.

Failure to plan and take proper legal advice can cost far more money than it saves.

[Deleted User]

lessonlearned wrote: »

Yes.
If you want real proper constructive legal bullet proof protection then you have to pay for it.

You mean that you shouldn't just take the advice of random unqualified strangers from a web forum? I am SHOCKED

Yorkie1

Strapped wrote: »

When my boyfriend and I first moved in together, I already owned my own house. I sold it and we used the proceeds as the deposit on a larger, family house. We held the property as "joint tenants" and I owned the larger share because I made the larger financial investment.

You may wish to consider doing the same - eg, your parents gift you the £50k, and you buy a house worth say, £100k, then you own the amount purchased by the £50k (50%) plus half the rest (25%) = 75%, and your boyfriend owns half the rest = 25%.

In this way, you are safeguarding not only the actual amount of the deposit, but the investment in the property ie any growth in the value of the deposit.

We had wills drawn up leaving our share of the property to each other - this is important if you are unmarried, as holding the property as joint tenants rather than tenants in common means you don't automatically inherit the whole property if your partner dies.

Of course, 15 years, marriage and two kids later, it no longer matters who bought what into the relationship (and we own our current property 50/50) but imo it's only sensible to protect your parents money esp if you have a young child.

If your partner quibbles about this, then perhaps mention the "M" word as an alternative :whistle:

With reference to the bits in bold, and for information for anyone else reading this thread.

Strapped, you've got this the wrong way round. Joint tenants means each owns [STRIKE]half[/STRIKE] [edit: all], and [STRIKE]the half [/STRIKE] [edit: it all therefore passes solely] to the other automatically on death.

Tenants in common is (generally) for unequal shares, and they don't automatically pass to the other owner(s) on death but must be dealt with in the will.

Mojisola

Yorkie1 wrote: »

With reference to the bits in bold, and for information for anyone else reading this thread.

Strapped, you've got this the wrong way round. Joint tenants means each owns half, and the half passes to the other automatically on death.

Tenants in common is (generally) for unequal shares, and they don't automatically pass to the other owner(s) on death but must be dealt with in the will.

I understood that joint tenants means that you both own all the property, not half shares.

shop-to-drop

I think it's sad that it seems that many women these days want the protection of being married and will do anything to get it apart from get married. Marriage seems to be only for when they have enough money to have a huge showy party and several children to show off as bridesmaids or paige boys. Or when one party has a terminal illness whichever comes sooner.

lessonlearned

ringo_24601 wrote: »

You mean that you shouldn't just take the advice of random unqualified strangers from a web forum? I am SHOCKED

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

As we say "ooop north" I might be daft but I'm not stupid.

Yorkie1

Mojisola wrote: »

I understood that joint tenants means that you both own all the property, not half shares.

Yes, in my haste to explain that they were the wrong way round, I slightly mis-stated the definition of joint tenants .

My original post now amended, thanks for pointing that out.

neverdespairgirl

Deed of Trust, OP.

Ignore all the posters who think you shouldn't do it - it's entirely sensible and careful to do precisely this, and it doesn't mean you don't love him / trust him / intend to be with him for the rest of your lives.

It's a question of hoping for the best, and planning for the worst.

chewmylegoff

Tancred wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I beg to differ - it is entirely relevant, given the context of the situation.

It is entirely irrelevant but since it is apparently appropriate to make unsolicited comments about people's relationships around here I would just like to register the fact that I feel sorry for your OH as no doubt you act like a sanctimonious twit off-line as well.

MumOf2

How very sensible of you and your parents. I wish I had been so pragmatic during the 20 years of my, now failed, marriage - it would have saved so much heartache (for me and my parents) and disappointment (in him) and financial difficulties (for me and the children).

Trust Deed is definitely the way to do this. As long as you go to a solicitor prepared with exactly what you'd like to do, this shouldn't cost too much.

I've drawn up a will setting up a discretionary Trust in perpetuity. When I die, my estate is divided equally between the children but is kept in Trust for 70 years after my death (the maximum allowed). The children can have income and capital ONLY at the discretion of the trustees - their wreckless father's influence is minimised and he cannot benefit from any of it. Likewise, any partner of the children cannot have access to the capital should a relationship fail. The capital is protected, and the children are protected.

Please do take sensible steps to protect you and your child. No-one wants a relationship to fail but the sad fact of life is that plenty do.

MumOf2

P.S. I don't think the OP was asking a question about the moral whys and wherefores, rather she was asking about the formal mechanism by which her parents could assist with buying a property and protecting their daughter and grandchild financially.