Joint tenant or tenants in common

ralphy1967

My partner and I are buying our council house. Our solicitors have emailed us with 'Declaration of trust letter'. The options are 'Joint Tenants' or 'Tenants in Common' if we choose anyone of these we will have to pay a fee. DO WE HAVE TO GO WITH ONE OF THESE?
We are wanting to write our wills out and could we not include everything in them instead?

Seems to be pointless paying for one of the above options when we will be paying for a will too.

Thanks in advance for any advice 

Ralphy

Snookie12cat

Tenants in common all the time.

A declaration of trust is for varying shares. If you are splitting it 50/50 then don't do a declaration of trust, just tick tenants in common for land registry

ralphy1967

Snookie12cat said:

Tenants in common all the time.

A declaration of trust is for varying shares. If you are splitting it 50/50 then don't do a declaration of trust, just tick tenants in common for land registry

But so we have to choose one of them options or could we just write a will which we will definitely be doing?

Snookie12cat

ralphy1967 said:

Snookie12cat said:

Tenants in common all the time.

A declaration of trust is for varying shares. If you are splitting it 50/50 then don't do a declaration of trust, just tick tenants in common for land registry

But so we have to choose one of them options or could we just write a will which we will definitely be doing?

You have to choose one for the land registry application - its standard and should not cost you anymore, as they cant submit it without one of the boxes ticked.
The declaration of trust is what they can charge you for, and you do not need this if you have an equal split. 

canaldumidi

You have to purchase as either Joint Tenants or Tenants In Common. Do you understand the difference and have you decided which will be appropriate for you - given your relationship whatever it is? Read:

https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership

If you choose Joint Tenants, you do not need a Declaration of Trust.

If you chooseTenants In Common AND choose to own 50% each, you do not need a Declaration of Trust.

If you chooseTenants In Common AND choose to own different % each (eg 40% / 60%), you WILL need a Declaration of Trust to specify this.

Keep_pedalling

The i portent thing is what do you want to happen to your share if one of you dies? If you both want the survivor to own the house outright then this will happen automatically if you are JT, if not then TIC is the way to go. Which every it is you should still make wills and lasting powers of attorney as well, as losing mental capacity through accident or illness can cause your loved ones more financial grief than dying.

if you are not married then wills and LPAs are even more vital to have in place.