Adding spouse to deeds

swmumx3

We have been married and in our home for over 25 years, when we first bought our home it was just before we married and bought at auction, we didn't have enough to buy it so my husbands relative gave us the extra needed to purchase but only if the deeds were in his name, which was fair enough.
We've gone along and not given the deeds a second thought and are now mortgage free.
My husband has been diagnosed with terminal cancer so we are now trying to get all paperwork up together as we don't know what the future holds.
When he had cancer surgery last year we did a basic will witnessed by 2 people we know as apart from the house there isn't anything of value and our only marriage and we have children together, in it he left the house to me, but we aren't sure if this is the right thing to do?.
Would it be better to get the property put into both names now or leave it as it is? And could we do it easily ourselves via land registry or do we need to employ a solicitor?.

Any advise would be much appreciated, our heads are all over the place and we don't really know where to start or if I've even posted this in the right place.

swmumx3

I should add we paid the relative back as soon as we got a mortgage.

canaldumidi

No real need to do anything assuming your wills are valid.

If your husband dies (note: I was given 3 years and that was 16 years ago......) you will inherit the house. Your only issue might be if the value of the property is large enough to attract Inheritance Tax which his Estate might not be able to pay without selling the property if there are no other assets.

Not sure what the current IHT allowance is but it's pretty high when a property goes to a spouse.

https://www.which.co.uk/money/tax/inheritance-tax/inheritance-tax-for-married-couples-and-civil-partners-a1vvf7h17jpc

However if you want to transfer the property into joint ownership, it depends if you currently have a mortgage. If yes, you'll need the lender's agreement. If no, see

https://www.gov.uk/registering-land-or-property-with-land-registry/transfer-ownership-of-your-property

This may also help:

https://www.gov.uk/update-property-records-someone-dies

Tiglet2

swmumx3 said:

We have been married and in our home for over 25 years, when we first bought our home it was just before we married and bought at auction, we didn't have enough to buy it so my husbands relative gave us the extra needed to purchase but only if the deeds were in his name, which was fair enough.
We've gone along and not given the deeds a second thought and are now mortgage free.
My husband has been diagnosed with terminal cancer so we are now trying to get all paperwork up together as we don't know what the future holds.
When he had cancer surgery last year we did a basic will witnessed by 2 people we know as apart from the house there isn't anything of value and our only marriage and we have children together, in it he left the house to me, but we aren't sure if this is the right thing to do?.
Would it be better to get the property put into both names now or leave it as it is? And could we do it easily ourselves via land registry or do we need to employ a solicitor?.

Any advise would be much appreciated, our heads are all over the place and we don't really know where to start or if I've even posted this in the right place.

Sorry, can you clarify?  Are you and/or your husband listed as registered proprietors (owners) of the property, or is the husband's relative listed as the owner?  Or are all three of you listed as owners?

swmumx3

Tiglet2 said:

swmumx3 said:

We have been married and in our home for over 25 years, when we first bought our home it was just before we married and bought at auction, we didn't have enough to buy it so my husbands relative gave us the extra needed to purchase but only if the deeds were in his name, which was fair enough.
We've gone along and not given the deeds a second thought and are now mortgage free.
My husband has been diagnosed with terminal cancer so we are now trying to get all paperwork up together as we don't know what the future holds.
When he had cancer surgery last year we did a basic will witnessed by 2 people we know as apart from the house there isn't anything of value and our only marriage and we have children together, in it he left the house to me, but we aren't sure if this is the right thing to do?.
Would it be better to get the property put into both names now or leave it as it is? And could we do it easily ourselves via land registry or do we need to employ a solicitor?.

Any advise would be much appreciated, our heads are all over the place and we don't really know where to start or if I've even posted this in the right place.

Sorry, can you clarify?  Are you and/or your husband listed as registered proprietors (owners) of the property, or is the husband's relative listed as the owner?  Or are all three of you listed as owners?

Just my husband, his relative lent us a small sum to make up shortfall at auction as it was a renovation project, as soon as some work had been done to be able to mortgage my husband got mortgage and paid relative back, mortgage was done based on my husbands wages.

canaldumidi

So the relative and their loan is a red herring. Now irrelevant.

But what about the mortgage? Is that still current, or is it paid off? Makes a big difference!

swmumx3

canaldumidi said:

So the relative and their loan is a red herring. Now irrelevant.

But what about the mortgage? Is that still current, or is it paid off? Makes a big difference!

No mortgage paid off 2 years ago

canaldumidi

So that too is a red herring!

Tiglet2

Ok, your husband is the sole owner of the property.  

If you wanted to add your name to the deeds (title), then you can do this yourself as there is no mortgage.  You would need to fill in these forms:  AP1, TR1, ID1 (need a conveyancer/solicitor to certify your ID documents, plus passport size photos) and send to the Land Registry, along with the fee (used to be about £40 but think LR raised the prices a couple of months ago).  If you feel you would rather a solicitor did this, then it is called a Transfer of Equity and most conveyancers will know how to do this.

Sorry to hear of your husband's illness - I lost mine a few years ago so can empathise with what you are going through.  It is a good idea to get the finances in order as much as you can.

canaldumidi

Tiglet2 said:

..... You would need to fill in these forms:  AP1, TR1, ID1 (need a conveyancer/solicitor to certify your ID documents, plus passport size photos) and send to the Land Registry, ....

ID1 certification was simplified during the pandemic. I believe the temporary arrangements are still in place:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-changes-to-hm-land-registrys-evidence-of-identity-requirements-pg67a

Tiglet2

canaldumidi said:

Tiglet2 said:

..... You would need to fill in these forms:  AP1, TR1, ID1 (need a conveyancer/solicitor to certify your ID documents, plus passport size photos) and send to the Land Registry, ....

ID1 certification was simplified during the pandemic. I believe the temporary arrangements are still in place:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-changes-to-hm-land-registrys-evidence-of-identity-requirements-pg67a

If it is still in place, then OP would need an ID3 instead of ID1