House purchase - couple not married? Who would inherit half of the house?

M

musicfan

Registered User
Messages
137
I bought a house with my OH a couple of years ago, we are not married. Neither of us has made a will.

When we bought the house, the solicitor asked us who should get the half of the house if something and we stated that the our half of the house should go to the other person (and not to parents / siblings etc).

I cannot recall if this is in writing somewhere but should it be on the house deeds or the contract or something? Will have to dig out the paperwork but as I say I cannot recall ever seeing this in writing?

Is it standard that in a case where a house purhased between 2 unmarried people, that the half of the house would automatically go to the other person or would it go to parents or siblings?

Would we be better off making a will just to be sure?
Thanks
 
The solicitor would have asked you this as you could have bought either as 'tenants in common' or as 'joint tenants'. If as joint tenants, your partner would automatically inherit your share. If as tenants in common, your share would go by way of your estate, and if no will made would go to your next of kin ( parents or brothers sisters depending on who survives you). It sounds like your solicitor covered this for you but no harm to check. Do you have a copy of your title? If not, you could ask the solicitor.

By the way, it is not readily apparent on the title- if you are registered as joint tenants it will simply have your names down as registered owners and will be silent otherwise. If as tenants in common- it will say ' Mark Owens and Sharon O' Keefe as tenants in common with an undivided one half share each' or something similar.
 
The answer to your questions will probably lie in how the the title to the property is registered , i.e. whether you are joint tenants or tenants in common. You need to speak with the solicitor who acted for you as making a will may be a futile exercise if the property passes to the surviving partner outside of the deceased partner's estate.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the quick replies.

I do not have a copy of the title? Should I have been given this at the time?

If I request a copy from our solicitors, will I be charged for this (do not mind if this is the standard, but just want to know!)

just to confirm, in our case we should be down as joint tenants with just our names on the title. In this case, the deceaseds share would go to the other half automatically? There would be not need to make a will?

What if we are down as tenants in common? Can this be changed or would we need to make a will to ensure the other person would automatically inherit the other half of the house?

Apologies for all the questions....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top