Tenants In common Agreement???

Samford44

Hello

I'm wondering if anybody can help / advise on a question I have with regards to a Tenants In common agreement and whether I need one.

I'm due to get married in 2 months and I own my own home which has just over 100K equity. I have 2 young children. I also have debts of around 20K.

My husband to be has no property / equity and has approximately 25k of debt (credit cards, small loans).

I want to be able to protect myself financially (however un-romantic that sounds!) In that I don't want my new husband to be able to have any access to the current equity in my home if we should ever split up. I want to be able to retain my home for my children if the worst should happen.

Once we are married my husband will pay me some money towards the mortgage and I am fine with him being entitled to any additional equity that the house might make after our marriage.

Can anyone advise whether a Tennants In Common agreement is what I would be looking for here?

Many Thanks
Sam

Mojisola

Samford44 wrote: »

I'm wondering if anybody can help / advise on a question I have with regards to a Tenants In common agreement and whether I need one.

I'm due to get married in 2 months and I own my own home which has just over 100K equity. I have 2 young children. I also have debts of around 20K.

If you don't get married, yes.

If you do get married, whatever you both bring into the relationship becomes a marital asset. If the marriage lasts longer than a few years and you then split up, you can't take back everything you started with.

troubleinparadise

It is a good idea to think through these things in advance, however unromantic that might sound.

Whilst you are in this pragmatic mood, take legal advice about making a Will also if you haven't done so already (especially as a new marriage will invalidate any previously made), especially taking into consideration your young children and your property.

bargainbetty

You have the option of requesting a pre-nuptial agreement. While they are not entirely legally binding, they are being recognised in most family and divorce courts now as a basis for equitable and fair division of assets. Ask a solicitor to draw up a simple contract that ensures that in the event of divorce, the property to the value now remains yours, and any increase in value only is considered for equity purposes.

It will at least let a court see what your agreement was at the time of marriage.

Good luck

RAS

Once you marry everything becomes an asset/debt of the marriage, although if you had evidence that you husband-to-be's debt pre-dates the marriage that might be taken into account if you divorce.

However there is a still a risk that if he were to be made bankrupt the OR would consider that he had a Beneficial Interest in the property.

If you are considering a tenancy in common then you are considering placing him on the deeds which make this risk even higher.

Even with a pre-nuptial agreement there is no guarantee that a future divorce or financial difficulties might not result in him being able to claim some of the equity.

Talk to a lawyer before you go any further.

FBaby

Have you discussed this with him? Sounds like you should both be making an appointment with a solicitor and discuss your options, that's assuming he is happy with your suggestion.