Adding my partner to my house deeds

SueGarbs

Me and my partner have been together for 30 years. We bought our house in 2007. As this was a council house in my name only at the time, the mortgage was taken out in my name only too. We had a large deposit between us, and had a small mortgage over 5 years which we paid equally. I have two grown up children from a previous relationship, but my partners does not have any. The thing that worries me now, is if anything happens to me first, what happens with the house. I know that I can make a will to state he keeps the house, but will this trigger IHT. My house is worth over the inheritance tax amount, so will they land him with a bill to keep it as it will all go towards my estate. It seems a little harsh as he has paid for half of it. I put him on the deeds, but will that be subject to the 7 year taper? This is worrying me now, for his sake. Most houses now are over the £325000 which is the IHT limit, so this could cost quite a lot that he does not have. I don't want him in the position that he has to sell it to pay IHT

SeniorSam

NO. You have a nil rate band allowance of £325,000 plus you also have a residential allowance of £175,000, so there would need to be over £500,000 value before any inheritance tax would be payable by your estate.

You should certainly make a Will as soon as possible to protect your family and discussing this with a solicitor or competent Will Writer should give you information to word your Will in such a way that it protects your children and your partner during his lifetime. So far you have picked up a few bits of information which are not enough to understand how your Will can protect your family. Do please speak with someone who knows how these matters need to be done and do it now, not later.

p00hsticks

Any reason why you aren't prepared to get married, as this would be advantageous IHT wise.... ?

Keep_pedalling

p00hsticks said:

Any reason why you aren't prepared to get married, as this would be advantageous IHT wise.... ?

I second this, if you gift him half your house, it won’t fall out of your estate for 7 years (taper relief does not apply to gifts under the NRB). Either get married or form a civil partnership. Anything left to a spouse if IHT exempt and NRBs are transferable. If you don’t already have them in place then you also need wills put in place. You need a will to protect both your children and partner.

SueGarbs

Thank you, hadn't really thought of getting married, but if it protects my partner I think this maybe the way to go. Seems daft that you can live with somebody all these years and there is nothing binding between you, yet somebody else can get married within a couple of months of meeting someone and have more right

SueGarbs

So if we get married, will the house just become his if anything happens to me. Will it not be included in my estate. I just don't want him to be lumbered with a tax bill for a house he has paid half towards

SueGarbs

SeniorSam said:

NO. You have a nil rate band allowance of £325,000 plus you also have a residential allowance of £175,000, so there would need to be over £500,000 value before any inheritance tax would be payable by your estate.

You should certainly make a Will as soon as possible to protect your family and discussing this with a solicitor or competent Will Writer should give you information to word your Will in such a way that it protects your children and your partner during his lifetime. So far you have picked up a few bits of information which are not enough to understand how your Will can protect your family. Do please speak with someone who knows how these matters need to be done and do it now, not later.

So if we get married does that mean that the house goes direct to him and won't be part of my estate if I die first? We have just spoke about it and are going to call a solicitor and make an appointment. You are right, this needs to be done sooner rather than later. Thank you

Keep_pedalling

SueGarbs said:

So if we get married, will the house just become his if anything happens to me. Will it not be included in my estate. I just don't want him to be lumbered with a tax bill for a house he has paid half towards

That would depend on the type of ownership. For joint tenants the whole home automatically passes to the survivor. A better option in your situation Is to own as tenants in common. You can then leave your half to your children and give your partner a life interest so he can glinting on living there as long as needed. He can also leave his half to whoever he wishes and give you a life interest in his half.

SueGarbs

Keep_pedalling said:

SueGarbs said:

So if we get married, will the house just become his if anything happens to me. Will it not be included in my estate. I just don't want him to be lumbered with a tax bill for a house he has paid half towards

That would depend on the type of ownership. For joint tenants the whole home automatically passes to the survivor. A better option in your situation Is to own as tenants in common. You can then leave your half to your children and give your partner a life interest so he can glinting on living there as long as needed. He can also leave his half to whoever he wishes and give you a life interest in his half.

That sounds exactly what I need. Thank you for your help in this

SueGarbs

Keep_pedalling said:

p00hsticks said:

Any reason why you aren't prepared to get married, as this would be advantageous IHT wise.... ?

I second this, if you gift him half your house, it won’t fall out of your estate for 7 years (taper relief does not apply to gifts under the NRB). Either get married or form a civil partnership. Anything left to a spouse if IHT exempt and NRBs are transferable. If you don’t already have them in place then you also need wills put in place. You need a will to protect both your children and partner.

Going to arrange an appointment adap to get this sorted. Thank you for your help

SueGarbs

p00hsticks said:

Any reason why you aren't prepared to get married, as this would be advantageous IHT wise.... ?

We have never really wanted to get married. We are happy as we are. Might be an option though.