Page 1 of Joint Ownership of Property - Declaration of Trust

Horrible subject but crossed my mind :/

I live in a property with my girlfriend, which is mortgaged. I presumed both persons owned an equal share in the property and in the event of the others death, the other in the relationship would automatically receive the property. We also pay joint life insurance to cover the cost of the mortgage.

With a lot in the news ref un-married couples and striving for the same rights as married couples, it got me thinking:-

1. If you were to seperate with your partner, would the split be equal as neither of you had paid a deposit in to the house?
2. Would any division be based on earnings?
3. In the event of the others death, would the living partner own the property (and its debts :) ) ... or the next in line family member?

If it would mean one person could in theory earn a greater share or if the worse was to happen .... should you have a declaration of trust.

I was wondering whether to download one of an internet site for £25 or should you go through a solicitor, which could obviously work out very expensive.

We ignored our solicitors advise when we purchased our home. Looking back I wonder whether we should have played safe and formed a declaration of trust.

Thanks,

Chris

Surely if no deposit were paid and the mortgage is paid from a joint account it can be argued that the mortgage repayments are paid 50 : 50 and hence the share of such is 50 : 50???

that said that seems overly simplistic which goes against most things legal

Chris

A.C.C. Member
LFC
YNWA

Is the house in both of your names?

This is very vague, dating from when I took my mortgage out 10 years ago, but I think there are two different ways to buy a property jointly, which have different implications if you split or one of you died. Do you know which of them you chose? I can`t remember a lot more about it, as luckily when my ex left he wanted to shift the debt out of his name asap and just gave me his half (we were only 18 months into the mortgage at that point).

Quote:
I think there are two different ways to buy a property jointly

Yes, there are - joint tennants or tennants-in-common, and they differ greatly with regard to what happens. If you are joint tenants, the the house is in effect held in trust by you both for yourselves. If one or other dies, the other person will get the other half of the house ... this is what married couples normally do.

With tennants-in-common, you own your share of the house only, and it does not have to be 50:50 if one paid a deposit or pays a larger share of the morgage etc. If one party dies, then the other share becomes part of their estate, and may not go to the the person that owns the house with them, it depends on if they have a will, and who the beneficiary of their estate is.




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