Help to buy ISA and marriage

rdone

Hello,

I bought my house 2 years ago on my own (I was a first time buyer). Since then my OH has moved in and we are now engaged and will be married next Jul (yay!).

He has never purchased a house so is going to open the help to buy ISA. I've researched and we know that this is fine.

So now I have a few questions:
When we get married does that mean he is not a first time buyer anymore?
Does the money that he has put into the ISA up until the wedding still qualify for the 25% from the government?
Are we able to get a prenuptial agreement to state that the house is staying as mine and thus him still being a first time buyer?

At the moment if I die the house will be inherited by my two brothers and we are happy for that to stay as it is for the time being as we have no children.

Thanks for any advice I receive!!

Thrugelmir

What is your partner hoping to achieve by opening the account?

LplateSaver

You're over-thinking things.

Your fiance marrying you doesn't change the fact hes never bought a house.

Are you planning on buying a a different house in the future? If yes then him opening the help-to-buy ISA will be worth it. If not then the interest rates might not be great and it might be worth saving elsewhere.

rdone

We're wanting to buy another house in around 5 years. The house I bought is only 2 bedroomed with a downstairs bathroom (which doesn't actually have a bath).

So we want him to open the help 2 buy isa and pay into it to help us out in the future because of the 25% you get from the government. Was just wondering because it's only open to first time buyers does it effect him and we won't get the 25% and as you say other savings options will be better.

I know if you inherit a house then you can't take advantage of the isa but I can't find anything for our situation.

cakeforbrains

I was a little confused about these as well. I don't know whether I count as a first time buyer or not because I used to be a named party on a declaration of trust when my (then) husband bought a property with his mother. I was not on the mortgage or the deeds.

Also, they are currently saying that they'll only be for properties worth £250000 and below. I'm hoping they'll lift that when they release the products.

Time2go

If your partner has never been named on the deeds of a property he can have a help yo buy isa. We will be doing this for my husband as i have a mortgage for my flat but he has never been on the mortgage.

rdone

Ah that's good! I wasn't sure if it would change with marriage. Thanks for the advice.

We're lucky where we live and the £250,000 should be enough for us if we are realistic about things!