Property Ownership

Tom99

RaraAvis wrote: »

thank you. these links are very helpful. I have LR title deed with me, which simply mentions our names and nothing about 'joint' or 'tenant in common' status. Where is the transfer deed, is it kept by solicitors or should I have a copy?

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Look under B: Proprietorship Register[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.[/FONT]

RaraAvis

Yes that section is present (which I doesn't understand even a word of) as you typed under B...

Proprietorship Register
No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.

Also there are two more restrictions below the one you specified.... (again beyond my understanding)... Nothing like 'tenant in common' thing...

xylophone

Being married couple automatically implies that property is held jointly?

Married people can own a property as tenants-in-common if they so choose.

They may opt to hold a property as joint tenants on the basis that if one of them were to predecease the other, the property would pass to the spouse automatically by right of survivorship, regardless of any will, which is not the case with tenants in common.

The FAQ here may be of interest.

https://www.deedoftrust.co.uk/restrictions/

If you do not understand your rights and obligations, consult a solicitor who will explain them.

Land_Registry

You are looking to cover a lot of ground in what is a complex area of the law. Here are some basic points to consider although these matters would normally have been discussed and understood when you bought the property, entered into the DoT and mortgaged in joint names.

The register is not definitive re such detail and the term 'tenants in common' is not referred to on the register.

Joint owners may indicate that they wish to hold the property as tenants in common when they are registered or may decide to sever their joint tenancy at some stage. In your case it appears you entered into a DoT, which we would not nromally see, and completed the Transfer (form TR1) panel 10

When this happens, and where the land is registered, we can register a Form A restriction on the registered title, namely
'No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court'

The Form A restriction does not itself change the ownership from beneficial joint tenancy to tenancy in common. The restriction only reflects the request or change made.

For further information see Joint property ownership available on the GOV.UK website

A registered title deals with the legal ownership. This means that when one of joint owners dies the legal ownership passes to the surviving joint owner.

The DoT and indeed your wills relate to the beneficial ownership and your respective shares in that. The survivor would account for these when dealing with the property following the death as mentioned. If they did not then the beneficiaries, your children, are likely to be able to take legal action.

It is important to make wills in such cases to provide clarity as to what is to happen re your beneficial interests/shares.

Finally, to help distinguish between the legal and beneficial ownerships and how the the registration process views these a simple analogy may help

The legal ownership should be thought of as the bricks & mortar and land of the property. They can't be 'split' in that you get 99% of each and your partner 1%.

The beneficial ownership relates to the value of the bricks & mortar and land less any mortgage. Think of that in £s and that can of course be split with say £99K being your beneficial share and £1K being your partners

You can leave your beneficial shares to the children.
But the legal ownership always has to be dealt with as a whole, hence the DoT and wills being important to help the surviving joint owner deal with the property and beneficial shares appropriately

RaraAvis

Thank you so much Land Registry. This reply is very much useful and what was ideally looking for providing answers to most of my questions. I can see that DOT and will are v important in case of tenant in common. Does DOT beneficiary ownership share applies in case of divorce as well or it this DOT nullifies ? also is it possible to revoke or change this DOT without the other partner's consent in case there is any disagreement between partners?

Land_Registry

RaraAvis wrote: »

Thank you so much Land Registry. This reply is very much useful and what was ideally looking for providing answers to most of my questions. I can see that DOT and will are v important in case of tenant in common. Does DOT beneficiary ownership share applies in case of divorce as well or it this DOT nullifies ? also is it possible to revoke or change this DOT without the other partner's consent in case there is any disagreement between partners?

Two things we don't deal with I'm afraid so you'll need others to advise on how DoT affects matters during a divorce and whether you can change it without the other's consent/involvement

I'm guessing No in each case but would be interested to read what others with better knowledge re such things suggest. But do get legal advice, perhaps from the person who helped you put together the DoT as I woukd have expected this to have been covered then.