Does Spouse's Half Of House Automatically Pass To Other Spouse When One Dies?

woodbine66

My 83 yo aunt wants to leave her half of the house she shares with her 87 yo husband to her sons. Though they are still married, they loathe each other, mainly because of violence and cruelty towards her years ago and his womanising. No love lost!


Does their house automatically have to go to her husband when she dies?


She wants to leave her half to her two sons, but we aren't sure what the ownership/title status is for the house - ie. whether it's joint or common tenants.


For example, can she just put in her will something like "on my death, my share of the house is to pass equally to my two sons, providing that the ownership basis allows this."


If she can even find out how the house is owned, I'm sure there will be no opportunity to change the ownership status. Hence the need to say that her half goes to the sons if the ownership status allows.


I realise this is an odd one and a little complex, but I would appreciate some advice so I can guide her before seeing a solicitor.

Mojisola

woodbine66 wrote: »

My 83 yo aunt wants to leave her half of the house she shares with her 87 yo husband to her sons.

She wants to leave her half to her two sons, but we aren't sure what the ownership/title status is for the house - ie. whether it's joint or common tenants.

For example, can she just put in her will something like "on my death, my share of the house is to pass equally to my two sons, providing that the ownership basis allows this."

If she can even find out how the house is owned, I'm sure there will be no opportunity to change the ownership status.

If they own the house as 'joint tenants', they both own all the house so she can't leave it to anyone in her will - when the first one dies, the other still owns all the house.

She can sever the joint tenancy and become 50/50 'tenants in common' quite easily. She can then leave her half to her sons, although if she doesn't give her husband a life tenancy, he may try to contest the will - take advice from the solicitor when she makes the new will.

woodbine66

Mojisola wrote: »

She can sever the joint tenancy and become 50/50 'tenants in common' quite easily.

Many thanks for your reply, Mojisola. Can she sever the joint tenancy unilaterally, or only with the agreement of her husband? Knowing the type of person he is, that would be very difficult. Money and assets are the most important things to him.


And how would we go about finding the ownership type? The house was bought 60 years ago by both of them.

unholyangel

woodbine66 wrote: »

Many thanks for your reply, Mojisola. Can she sever the joint tenancy unilaterally, or only with the agreement of her husband? Knowing the type of person he is, that would be very difficult. Money and assets are the most important things to him.


And how would we go about finding the ownership type? The house was bought 60 years ago by both of them.

Info here (clicky)

Check land registry to see if there are any restrictions on disposal, to work out how the property is held.

Savvy_Sue

woodbine66 wrote: »

Many thanks for your reply, Mojisola. Can she sever the joint tenancy unilaterally, or only with the agreement of her husband? Knowing the type of person he is, that would be very difficult. Money and assets are the most important things to him.

Link below should give a good idea of how the property is owned, but yes, if it is a joint tenancy she can sever it unilaterally.

xylophone

Yes, if it is in joint tenancy she can sever it unilaterally.

She can then leave her interest in the property to her sons.

She should see a solicitor to discuss her situation - he will explain the appropriate procedure and draft a will to cover her requirements.

https://www.step.org/step-directory

xylophone

And how would we go about finding the ownership type? The house was bought 60 years ago by both of them.

Is it registered at the Land Registry?

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

Otherwise, where are the Deeds to the property?

TBagpuss

She can sever the joint tenancy unilaterally, but she has to do it now - she can't do it in her will.

badger09

woodbine66 wrote: »

My 83 yo aunt wants to leave her half of the house she shares with her 87 yo husband to her sons. Though they are still married, they loathe each other, mainly because of violence and cruelty towards her years ago and his womanising. No love lost!

..............

Probably better to stick to one thread so other posters get the full picture

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76700586#Comment_76700586

Malthusian

There's a lot of good advice on how not to trip over the giant pachyderm in this thread.

Unless she is massively richer than him, why not just divorce him? If she doesn't then he will have a claim on her estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act, so attempts to leave half the house to their children may be ineffective. If they have a clean break he will have no serious claim.

Don't say it's too late to bother; if she is in good health she could have another ten years ahead of her. Life's too short.

Mojisola

Malthusian wrote: »

Unless she is massively richer than him, why not just divorce him? If she doesn't then he will have a claim on her estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act, so attempts to leave half the house to their children may be ineffective.

Not if she leaves him a life interest although I agree that divorce would free her of her abuser now and give her a chance to enjoy her remaining years.