Tenancy in Common upon death

Legacy_user

Hello and thanks for any help in advance!

I am trying to ascertain what happens under a tenancy in common upon death.

My partner and I own our home 50/50 as joint tenants. We have both stipulated that we would like our halves to be split equally between our 2 children.

We chose this agreement for inheritance tax and care home cost reasons, as well as protecting our children in the event of remarriage and/or new children being introduced into the fold.

In the event of my death, I would like my partner to have full access to the house with the ability to sell it if he's sees fit, although I would still like my children to receive their portions in the event of my partner or I's death and/or potential remarriage and purchase of a new property with somebody else.

To be specific, I would like my partner to have full control of the house until or unless he chooses to buy a new home with somebody else.

But, I don't understand what happens to the children's portions upon sale of the house.

It seems like it should be such a straight forward thing to ascertain, but for the life of me I cant seem to find out/understand what would happen should either of us pass and the other wanted to sell?

Would the remaining partner still get to keep 100% of the house sell? I ask as I would like to find out what would happen in the event of either of us needing/wanting to sell this property and needing the full value of the property to purchase another.

Is it as simple !!! the value of their portion on the original sale getting ring-fenced?

A few other things....

If the children were over the age of 18, would the remaining partner have the flexibility to sell as they saw fit?

Could the children (God forbid) force a sale?

I suspect I'm over complicating this in my mind and I hope that my query isn't too hard to figure out.

Again, I'm really appreciative of anytime taken to help me with this!

Thanks guys

Crabapple

This reads a bit confused to be honest. If you own jointly 50/50 then you are tenants in common not joint tenants.

Have you made a will? You can't leave a share of the house outright to your children and then say the bits about your spouse, but you can leave it into a trust that does it,

If your children had half the house outright then potentially they could force a sale. It's also an asset of theirs for divorce, bankruptcy or on their death.

You need to see a qualified lawyer to get your wishes set out and they can explain all the options.

Incidentally there is no inheritance tax difference however you own the house.

Newly_retired

If I understand you correctly, you need to be tenants in common, which can easily be done if you are not already.
You need to see a solicitor who will be able to help sith this and word your wills to achieve what you want.
DH and I have done this, so that when the first one of us dies, the surviving spouse can stay in the house and be responsible for it, including maintenance , insurance etc. On the second death the house will be sold and the proceeds split equally between our children, as we each have two from previous marriages.
There is also provision if the survivor wants to sell up and move. They can do so, under the same terms.

getmore4less

Joint tenants the will is irrelevant.

Why do you think what you are trying to do is IHT efficient?

What you probably need is a life interest trust which details the various sale events(although default rules offer are sufficient.

WillowCat

getmore4less wrote: »

Why do you think what you are trying to do is IHT efficient?

The OP isn't married. If the property is worth more than the IHT threshold (and of course there may be other assets to consider) then if they pass their portion of the property to their children it isn't added to their partners share which would trigger IHT when the partner dies.

getmore4less

In the event of my death, I would like my partner to have full access to the house with the ability to sell it if he's sees fit, although I would still like my children to receive their portions in the event of my partner or I's death and/or potential remarriage and purchase of a new property with somebody else

suggests they are married..

System

Thanks all for your reply.

I had meant tenants in common, rather than joint tenants.

I was under the impression there were some tax advantages with tenants in common, I am new to this so will continue to do some reading.

My OP is pretty confusing and I think it's a direct result of my lack of knowledge on this issue!

Perhaps a more straight forward question is if I were to die, would my partner be able to sell and retain 100% of the sale proceeds? I am trying to figure out what would happen in a situation where he may need the full value of our house to re-buy - say closer to his family for example?

Assuming there would be no issue with the above, how would my children still be guaranteed my 50% on death IF say he were to get remarried and go 50/50 on his new house with another partner?

Is it a case of 50% of the original sale value being ring-fenced for the children?

Again, thanks in advance for taking the time to reply.

getmore4less

Are you married?

System

Not at present - Aim to get married March next year.

getmore4less

It makes a big difference to the outcome of the options.

System

Okay, hoping that I've got longer than 6 months to live, what wold the outcomes be under marriage?

And actually, outside of marriage too!

Many thanks again