With fewer people now engaging in marriages and civil partnerships, and the cohabiting couple on the rise it is important to fully understand your rights and entitlements if you own a property but are not married.
Hello, my name is Simon Green and I am an Associate Conveyancer in our Residential Conveyancing Department. In the last in our series of blogs on cohabitation, here I talk about how many couples are not aware that how they own their property affects who the property will pass to upon their death or separation.
There are two ways to hold a property in England and Wales. These are as follows:
- Joint Tenants
Joint tenants own the legal and equitable interest in a property, meaning that when one of them dies the survivor automatically inherits the whole of the property. Then on the death of the survivor, the property would pass according to the instructions the survivor leaves in their Will, or to their family due to the rules of intestacy if they did not leave a Will. This may mean that the family of the first owner to die does not inherit a share of the property which may not have been the first owner’s intention.
- Tenants in common
Tenants in common own the legal interest in the property jointly but their ownership of the equitable interest is in the shares that they specify. On the death of one of the owners their equitable share will either pass in accordance with that owners Will instructions, or by the rules of intestacy to their family members. This means that the surviving owner could end up owning a share in the property together with the first owner’s family.
The best way to avoid these issues is to discuss your intentions with your Conveyancer when purchasing a property and ask them to work collaboratively with a private client lawyer to protects your interests.
They may draw up a Declaration of Trust which sets out how you and your partner hold the property, and in what shares. It can also deal with how the property should be divided if you were to separate.
If you and your partner are purchasing a property and want further advice you can call me on 01625 531 676
