Wednesday 6 May 2015

Jointly owned property – The benefits of including a Property Protection Trust in your will


If you own property with somebody else, you will probably be aware that there are two ways of owning property jointly: as joint tenants or as tenants in common.

‘Joint tenants’ means that the co-owners own the whole property together. If one co-owner dies, the whole property passes to the surviving co-owner(s) by survivorship. This tends to be the most common form of co-ownership.
 
‘Tenants in common’ means that each co-owner owns a share of the property. This might be in equal or unequal shares. When a co-owner dies, their share will form part of their estate and therefore pass under the terms of their will (or under the rules of intestacy if the individual has not made a will).

Garden House Solicitors of Hertfordshire
Article by Chris Lucas
If you own your property with somebody else as joint tenants, you can change the ownership to tenants in common. This is known as severing the joint tenancy on your property and can be achieved simply by signing a notice, known as a notice of severance, and serving it on the other co-owner.
If you sever your joint tenancy, you will own your property as tenants in common, which will then allow you to dispose of your share of the property under the terms of your will. You may then wish to include a Property Protection Trust in your will, which can have the effect of safeguarding your share of the property for your loved ones in the future.

For example, a Property Protection Trust would typically grant your spouse or civil partner a right to live in the property for as long as they wished, but when they ceased to live in the property permanently, the trust would come to an end and your share of the property would then pass to ‘remainder’ beneficiaries of your choosing, typically your children.
This would mean that if your spouse or civil partner went into permanent residential care after your death, their estate would only include half of the property for means-tested purposes. Your half would be ‘protected’ from any claims from the local authority and would pass to your children at that point. The situation would be very different if the property had been owned as joint tenants and passed outright to your spouse or civil partner on your death.
 
Another benefit of the Protective Property Trust might be to ensure that, if your spouse or civil partner met somebody else after your death, your share of the property would still be preserved as an inheritance for your children.

A Property Protection Trust can be drafted with as much or as little flexibility as you wish. For example, you can include the right for your spouse or civil partner to direct your trustees to sell the property and buy a new one with the proceeds for them to live in. You can even include the right for your spouse or civil partner to keep all surplus funds from the sale and purchase.

If you are not married or in a civil partnership, you can still benefit from a Property Protection Trust, however there would be tax implications to consider.

Of course, whether a Property Protection Trust is right for you will depend on your individual circumstances and your wishes. The Private Client team at Garden House Solicitors are happy to discuss any queries you might have and the options available to you.

If you are interested in severing the joint tenancy on your property and/or including a Property Protection Trust in your will, feel free to contact Chris Lucas by telephone on 01992 422 128 or by email at chris@ghslaw.co.uk.

Follow me on Twitter                        Follow me on Linked-in
 
Garden House Solicitors of Hertfordshire





www.gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk

Tel: 01992 422 128

Email: info@gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.

16 comments:

  1. Brilliantly expressed. Would definitely go for other blogs by this writer. uk solicitors

    ReplyDelete
  2. Solicitors are really doing well for improvement of our society i am also solicitor and also runs The UK Law Blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. Look around the area to see how many properties are currently vacant. With reference to each particular vacant property, oakville condos for sale get details of the rental being sought and the time that the property has been on the market.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In any case, the Norwegian property market slump, which has not been anyplace close as serious as in other neighboring nations, seems to have just reached as far down as possible, and looks prepared to lead the Scandinavian property market recuperation. Property for sale in malta

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great job for publishing such a beneficial web site. Your web log isn’t only useful but it is additionally really creative too. Murcia Airport

    ReplyDelete
  6. Management companies provide a wide array of property management services to investors. Local Dwelling

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am happy to find your distinguished way of writing the post. Now you make it easy for me to understand and implement the concept. Thank you for the post. www.propertyoso.com/areas/property-for-sale-marbella/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Big thanks for the useful info. Sobha windsor price

    ReplyDelete
  9. Newly qualified teacher mortgage I would like to say that this blog really convinced me to do it! Thanks, very good post.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Teacher Mortgage UK Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Big thanks for the useful info.

    ReplyDelete
  11. UK Property laws go under the ambit of common courts. In this way, any debates in regards to real or individual can be settled simply by common courts in the United Kingdom. Haitch Convey

    ReplyDelete
  12. Now the Trust element turns into the borrower and the proprietor of the property.Haitch Convey

    ReplyDelete
  13. One more way of producing land leads is by publicizing. In case you are a realtor, representative, or financial specialist, promoting your administrations might be a decent way of producing land leads. This kind of lead age is incredible on the grounds that as opposed to you accomplishing the work to discover individuals who need to purchase or sell a property, the tables are turned and they come searching for you all things being equal. Nigeria real estate

    ReplyDelete
  14. The speculation period is the manner by which long we will hold the property for before we sell it. Since we have a decent arrangement of property presumptions down, we can start to make estimations dependent on these suppositions. chicago home photos

    ReplyDelete
  15. If 안전바카라 you’re unsure about which betting website begin out|to begin} with, then look no further than BetMGM. They boast a rising vary of sports activities to guess on, with robust odds and plentiful live streaming broadcasts. To get began, players are inspired to obtain their desired Android or iOS powered app ahead of registration.

    ReplyDelete