Adding wife onto deeds for house

Goldiegirl

westv wrote: »

Is there actually any benefit to adding your wife?

I don't know about you, but I expect to be joint owner of my marital home.

Goldiegirl

dzug1 wrote: »

I hope that's not a serious question


If it is ask a wife - any wife

Or a husband whose wife is the sole owner of the property

giddypenguin

Yes it was actually. Surely a will (which I assume is already in place) covers what happens to the house in the event of death - although doesn't a wife automatically inherit?

Inheritance tax?

Anyhoo, it's not really any of your concern. They've chosen to go down the route they have, and were asking about practicalities. You and your significant other may have other ideas, that's fine, it takes all sorts :-)

sstteeww

Land_Registry_representative wrote: »

Is the property registered and in England & Wales - if it is then the links and forms are the right ones to follow/use

Hi LRR,

Out of interest, is the process very different in Scotland (where I live)? I looked into this a while ago and fees quoted by solicitors where quite high, I was looking at a total cost of £800 approx. Would be good if I could do as much of it as possible myself.

Cheers.

00ec25

sstteeww wrote: »

Out of interest, is the process very different in Scotland

probably - why not ask the Registers of Scotland rather than asking the English Land Registry since it is the former you have to deal with

http://www.ros.gov.uk/public/about_us/our_business.html

westv

giddypenguin wrote: »

Inheritance tax?

Anyhoo, it's not really any of your concern. They've chosen to go down the route they have, and were asking about practicalities. You and your significant other may have other ideas, that's fine, it takes all sorts :-)

Isn't inheritance tax already covered under marriage law?
Anyhoo, why shouldn't I ask the question? When I said "your wife" I didn't mean the OP's wife I meant the general "your". Perhaps I should have said:-
Does adding your spouse to the deeds of your house give any further benefits beyond those already provided to married couples through law?

dzug1

westv wrote: »

Yes it was actually. Surely a will (which I assume is already in place) covers what happens to the house in the event of death - although doesn't a wife automatically inherit?

Not necessarily, no.

Guest101

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I don't know about you, but I expect to be joint owner of my marital home.

Well there's two arguments here:

U are as legally u are married and therefore assuming u are together forever this shouldn't be an issue. If u are together for any meaningful length of time u will have a claim for it should I divorce, clearly not on the ops mind since recently married

However arguement two, pay for half of it then.

Goldiegirl

A marriage or a relationship that has gone as far as living together on a long term basis is an equal partnership, so I've always believed it is preferable for both parties to own the home they live in.

On party may earn more than the other, but the lower earner will probably contribute to the household in other ways - but they they are still equals, and as such I firmly believe it should be joint property ownership.

If one party has a poor credit history and couldn't get a mortgage, then it would be understandable for the house to be in one name, but otherwise, in my book, joint is the only way I'd find acceptable.

00ec25

westv wrote: »

Isn't inheritance tax already covered under marriage law?

yes it is "covered" but the distinction between JT and TIC is still very relevant and should not be glossed over

if the property is owned as Joint Tenants then the surviving spouse automatically inherits the property and the property value does not form part of the estate valuation at that time

if the property is owned as Tenants in Common then it depends on who inherits the deceased's share of the property as to whether it is included in the estate total for IHT purposes