Adding wife to deeds of house

Plasticman

Not sure if this belongs here but I can't find a better place....

I owned our family home before my wife and I got married (25 years ago) so it's always been just in my name. The mortgage will be paid off in a few weeks which prompted me to think that I should transfer the house into joint names. Not least so that if something were to happen to me it would be more straightforward for my wife to deal with. 

Are there any pitfalls in doing this? It just seemed like the right thing to do but I don't want to end up disadvantaging us in any way unnecessarily. 

Brie

You could just specify this in your will that the house is hers but even if you don't have a will she would get the house anyways as I understand it.  

Bookworm105

Brie said:

but even if you don't have a will she would get the house anyways as I understand it.  

if there is no will then the rules of intestacy apply

if there are no blood (or adopted) children of the husband from either before the marriage and/or after it, then the entire estate would go to the surviving spouse.

but if there are children, the house is treated as a sum of money forming part of the total estate of the deceased and the surviving spouse gets to the level of a "statutory legacy" as the first "take" from the estate. The statutory legacy is currently £322,000. If the estate is valued at more than that , they the spouse gets 50% of the excess over 322k and the children get the remaining 50% split equally between them.

So technically the spouse does not "get the house", she gets a monetary share of the estate. It is up to the parties to agree if that monetary share can be represented by her taking ownership of the house in lieu of actual cash.

Bookworm105

Plasticman said:

Not sure if this belongs here but I can't find a better place....

I owned our family home before my wife and I got married (25 years ago) so it's always been just in my name. The mortgage will be paid off in a few weeks which prompted me to think that I should transfer the house into joint names. Not least so that if something were to happen to me it would be more straightforward for my wife to deal with. 

Are there any pitfalls in doing this? It just seemed like the right thing to do but I don't want to end up disadvantaging us in any way unnecessarily. 

although statistically speaking only some 3% of the population aged over 65 end up in a care home, sole ownership of the main home if you have children is very bad planning. If you end up claiming care home benefits then the council can sell the house to recover all the money they paid on your behalf leaving your kids with nothing..

therefore the "average" married couple will jointly own their home under the legal title called "Tenants in Common" which is crucially very different to the other style of title called "Joint Tenants"
You should read for yourself the pros and cons of both types of title., here are 2 to get you started: 

Joint property ownership: Overview - GOV.UK

Joint property ownership – your rights – MSE

Plasticman

Bookworm105 said:

Plasticman said:

Not sure if this belongs here but I can't find a better place....

I owned our family home before my wife and I got married (25 years ago) so it's always been just in my name. The mortgage will be paid off in a few weeks which prompted me to think that I should transfer the house into joint names. Not least so that if something were to happen to me it would be more straightforward for my wife to deal with. 

Are there any pitfalls in doing this? It just seemed like the right thing to do but I don't want to end up disadvantaging us in any way unnecessarily. 

although statistically speaking only some 3% of the population aged over 65 end up in a care home, sole ownership of the main home if you have children is very bad planning. If you end up claiming care home benefits then the council can sell the house to recover all the money they paid on your behalf leaving your kids with nothing..

therefore the "average" married couple will jointly own their home under the legal title called "Tenants in Common" which is crucially very different to the other style of title called "Joint Tenants"
You should read for yourself the pros and cons of both types of title., here are 2 to get you started: 

Joint property ownership: Overview - GOV.UK

Joint property ownership – your rights – MSE

Brilliant - thanks.

Sapindus

Is it just me - every time I read the title of this thread I envisage anyone buying your house in future also ending up owning your wife... 

Plasticman

Sapindus said:

Is it just me - every time I read the title of this thread I envisage anyone buying your house in future also ending up owning your wife... 

That would be a unique selling point......

Bookworm105

Plasticman said:

Sapindus said:

Is it just me - every time I read the title of this thread I envisage anyone buying your house in future also ending up owning your wife... 

That would be a unique selling point......

but could be very money saving expert if she is an expensive wife and liability therefore passes to the owner 

Plasticman

Bookworm105 said:

Plasticman said:

Sapindus said:

Is it just me - every time I read the title of this thread I envisage anyone buying your house in future also ending up owning your wife... 

That would be a unique selling point......

but could be very money saving expert if she is an expensive wife and liability therefore passes to the owner 

No - she's a bargain and worth every penny!