How do I transfer half our house to my wife

happyhero

Need some advice please. When I got together with my wife in 1993 she had 2 kids and already and lots of debts. I eventually lived with her for a year or 2 before we decided to move in 1995.

Because of her bad credit record and the kids, after a bit of advice it was decided the way to proceed was for me to buy the house as a single person, with no dependants. We wanted a biggish mortgage for my earnings which was going to be difficult to get so I went ahead as a single man with a reasonably good job and eventually got the mortgage I wanted. So I bought the house in 1995 and we all moved in.

I re-mortgaged in 2002 with a 25 year mortgage as this saved me a lot of money.

Now we worry about what would happen if anything happened to me. We married in 2000 by the way and we are both 58 now.

We didn’t think ahead much about the mortgage in my name only but started to think we would sort it out after the mortgage finishes in 2027. We thought we would then go to a solicitor and have my wife’s name added but is it that simple or will the tax man be involved looking at it as some tax gain or something equally horrible?

We bought the house for £134,000 in 1995 and it is now worth over £650,000 which is crazy but I worry that putting my wife on the deeds or whatever you call it will look like I am giving her hundreds of thousands and attract the attention of the tax man.

But I have to protect her so what should we do?

Will it go to her automatically if I die, so do I need to do anything?

How should we handle this?

How does this work?

Will there be any tax problem for us to pay?

Should I give any consideration to the fact the mortgage is still running, i.e. if I do anything is it best done while the mortgage is running or after it is paid off?

Any help or advice appreciated.

Comms69

happyhero wrote: »

Need some advice please. When I got together with my wife in 1993 she had 2 kids and already and lots of debts. I eventually lived with her for a year or 2 before we decided to move in 1995.

Because of her bad credit record and the kids, after a bit of advice it was decided the way to proceed was for me to buy the house as a single person, with no dependants. We wanted a biggish mortgage for my earnings which was going to be difficult to get so I went ahead as a single man with a reasonably good job and eventually got the mortgage I wanted. So I bought the house in 1995 and we all moved in.

I re-mortgaged in 2002 with a 25 year mortgage as this saved me a lot of money.

Now we worry about what would happen if anything happened to me. We married in 2000 by the way and we are both 58 now.

We didn’t think ahead much about the mortgage in my name only but started to think we would sort it out after the mortgage finishes in 2027. We thought we would then go to a solicitor and have my wife’s name added but is it that simple or will the tax man be involved looking at it as some tax gain or something equally horrible? - You're 58, remortgaged several times and you still don't understand tax?

We bought the house for £134,000 in 1995 and it is now worth over £650,000 which is crazy but I worry that putting my wife on the deeds or whatever you call it will look like I am giving her hundreds of thousands and attract the attention of the tax man. - it wont

But I have to protect her so what should we do? - you can make a will (or do nothing, she's your wife - automatically inherits)

Will it go to her automatically if I die, so do I need to do anything? - yes.

How should we handle this? - about 20 years ago..

How does this work? - be specific

Will there be any tax problem for us to pay? - not for this

Should I give any consideration to the fact the mortgage is still running, i.e. if I do anything is it best done while the mortgage is running or after it is paid off?

Any help or advice appreciated.

Personally I'd make a will

JGB1955

You might want to make sure life assurance is in place to pay off the mortgage.... you don't want to leave her with a debt to pay. Make a will.... now! Your wife needs to make a will too.

CRANKY40

As long as you have insurance to pay the mortgage off and your wife settles the debt with the mortgage company (Barclays is rubbish by the way, I had a letter afterwards telling "Mr Deceased" that he owed £0.01 on his mortgage) your house will pass directly to your wife unless you have a will that states otherwise. I had a mortgage in my own name when we bought our family home and because we were living in my flat while we did building work to our next house our new home was mortgaged in my husband's name only although we both obtained life insurance that would pay the mortgage off.

When he died without a will everything became mine. When I sold the house 3 years later I just had to give a certified copy of the letters of administration to the solicitor dealing with the house sale - I didn't bother changing the name on the deeds with land registry at all - it wasn't necessary.

Tom99

If the mortgage co agree it should not cost much to transfer the house to the two of you as joint tenants. There is no tax for anyone to pay.

If for some reason that is not possible you should make a will as without one only the 1st £250k plus 50% of remainder goes to your wife.

jackieblack

CRANKY40 wrote: »

your house will pass directly to your wife unless you have a will that states otherwise.

Not true

A spouse only gets the 1st £250k plus 50% of remainder

happyhero

Thanks guys for all the great advice and sorry I should have mentioned the mortgage is already at zero. It was an offset mortgage and I had been over paying it for years and a few years ago I managed to pay it off completely, however when I then contacted First Direct who it was with, their guy pointed out to me how it was useful it was to keep as a cheap loan facility as I could add and takeaway money at will from it. He advised to keep it until it finishes so thats what I am doing. I have used money from it several times and then zeroed it again. Its current rate is 1.5%.


Anyway so the mortgage is not a problem. When I mentioned the mortgage it was because I was asking whether it was easier to add my wife within the mortgage period or wait until its finished, i.e. I thought there may be pros and cons to doing it during either period, costwise or paperwork-wise.


Thanks for pointing out the £250k limit and the benefit of a Will. I see now why it is worth doing one for that reason alone if not a load of others.

Savvy_Sue

You each need a will, and Lasting Power of Attorney for at least Finance would be very sensible at the same time. Use a proper solicitor, not a will-writing company, and DON'T appoint them as Executors. How old are your wife's children? Do you have any of your own? They might make good co-executors and co-Attorneys.

Fosterdog

Rather than borrowing money against your house which is a terrible idea why not just close your mortgage account and if you need short term access to money take out a 0% credit card? It would save you paying any interest, ends the financial link between your home and your other debts, and frees up your deeds to have your wife added for a small sum and a bit of paperwork.

Kim_kim

If you leave it until the will and don’t add your wife now, if you need state funded social care when you get old they may insist you sell the house - if your wife isn’t also an owner.

Mojisola

Kim_kim wrote: »

If you leave it until the will and don’t add your wife now, if you need state funded social care when you get old they may insist you sell the house - if your wife isn’t also an owner.

This won't happen - the value of the family home is not taken into account in the financial assessment if the spouse/partner still needs it to live in, even if the house is wholly owned by the person going into residential care.