Writing a will before buying

mashmash90

Hi all

Me and my partner (together for nearly 8 years) are first time buyers and currently in the process of buying our first place (shared ownership). Our solicitor just rang us and said we should consider doing a will at this stage. It's not really something we've been thinking about but know it's important now that we've nearly bought. She quoted us £199 for the two wills, is this a reasonable price? What sort of things are we going to need to consider? We're only 25 & 26 so don't have any dependents and the deposit will pretty much wipe us out of any savings for a while!

Mojisola

Are you going to be owning the house as 'tenants in common' or 'joint tenants'?

If one of you dies, do you want the survivor to become the full owner of the house or do you want your share to go to someone else?

vuvuzela

Personally I don't think there's much point for you at the moment. Have you talked to each other about how you are purchasing the house - Tenants in Common or Joint Tenants ? http://www.apmalam.co.uk/joint-common.htm
If you really want a will then it can be done much cheaper - see http://www.willaid.org.uk/ for an example - this runs in November, gives you a much more reasonably priced will than your quote, and also the money all goes to charity.
Also, more information in general at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills

mashmash90

Well we initially put joint tenants but the solicitor made it sound a bit like because we're not married we should consider tenants in common but this will mean we need to do a declaration of trust which would also I think cost something extra...if the relationship were to break down then surely we can just change it to tenants in common instead?

RAS

No - you need to talk NOW about what happens if the relationship were to break down and get that in writing (deed of trust).

And you cannot just change from joint tenants (your both own 100%) to tenants in common once the relationship breaks down. Well you can but only with the agreement of the other party and your mortgage provider and the chance of getting agreement vary.

Do you understand that as joint tenants if one of you dies, the survivor is the sole tenant and gets everything? If you are joint tenants, the share of the deceased can be left to someone else.

G_M

If/when a relationship breaks down is NOT a good time to decide these things.

Discuss and agree now what you want to happen if

* one of you dies
* you split up

You only have to read the threads on the forum here regularly to see what a mess arises when relationships break up and property is involved, especially if

* unequal amounts have been contributed to deposit, mortgage payments, running costs
* one person wants to move out and take their share and/or get taken off the Title and/or mortgage, but the other wants to stay but can't afford to buy out the other
* both decide to sell but disagree on who gets what

And if one person dies, do you want the other to keep the whole house, or be forced to sell?

Once you've decided all the above (and more?) you can get advice on best way to achieve it.

getmore4less

RAS wrote: »

No - you need to talk NOW about what happens if the relationship were to break down and get that in writing (deed of trust).

And you cannot just change from joint tenants (your both own 100%) to tenants in common once the relationship breaks down. Well you can but only with the agreement of the other party and your mortgage provider and the chance of getting agreement vary.

Do you understand that as joint tenants if one of you dies, the survivor is the sole tenant and gets everything? If you are joint tenants, the share of the deceased can be left to someone else.

That is not correct severing a joint tenancy ownership can be done by either party without the lender.

The mortgage is always joint.

TBagpuss

Are you contributing equally to the deposit? If you were to separate, are you expecting that you would each have half of the property? If one of you died, would you each be happy for the other to automatically have the house?

If the answer to ll of the questions is yes for both of you then you should own as joint tenants and a will is not absolutely essential for the house, as you would each automatically be entitled to the other's interest in the house, and if you separated either of you could 'sever' the joint tenancy, resulting in you each owning a specific 50% share.

BUT it is always a good idea to have a will - if you are not married, you are not automatically one another's next of kin , you could (in a worst case scenario) end up in conflict with your partner's family about personal belongings, arrangements for funeral etc.

£199 for joint wills is reasonable. You could wait for will aid but bear in mind that the solicitor is giving their time for free - most will have limited appointments and may be less able to spend a lot of time answering questions.

DandelionPatrol

RAS wrote: »

.... And you cannot just change from joint tenants (your both own 100%) to tenants in common once the relationship breaks down. Well you can but only with the agreement of the other party and your mortgage provider and the chance of getting agreement vary.

Severance of a Joint Tenancy can be done unilaterally, after giving notice. It is probably more normal however, to do it by consent.

mashmash90

Thanks everyone for the advice, its hard to imagine anything like death or splitting up but you can't predict anything in life! My partner is contributing slightly more to the deposit (3k more) but essentially we pay the same in terms of mortgage payments. If anything happens we would really have no choice but to sell as its shared ownership and no sub letting allowed and no way would either of us afford it for long on our own so the issue of one of us wanting to sell and the other to stay wont crop up!

Kynthia

Who do you want to be your beneficiaries if you die, as you need to think about who will get your savings, pension, death in service payout, life insurance payout, possessions etc? Without a will and unmarried then it won't be your partner, are you happy with that? Who do you want to get your the house if you die, your partner or your next of kin? If you aren't ready to marry your partner are you ready to leave them the house? If not they may need to move out and sell? Are you getting insurance that will pay off the mortgage if you die? Those are just some questions off the top of my head regarding home ownership and wills. There are also lots regarding joint home ownership and the breakdown of the relationship without the clarity of marriage which others have mentioned. Before buying the most expensive asset you'll ever own with a joint debt that lasts longer than most marriages/relationships, you should really be discussing these questions together and resolving them