Putting house into joint names

Not sure if this is the right forum. House is in husbands name because it was his family home and we used his share as deposit and bought siblings out. Solicitor said we would pay tax if my name put on it but could change in s few years. Is this something we can do without solicitor. Mortgage is in both names.

If you are married, property is deemed to be in both your names, so you don't need to do anything.

Edit to update: this is in reference to the family home act. Property cannot be sold, mortgaged etc., without consent of both parties, even if one person on deeds.

Thanks Danny boy, I thought it might make things easier if anything happened him.

DannyBoyD said:

If you are married, property is deemed to be in both your names, so you don't need to do anything.

Click to expand...

IANAL but I understand this isn't correct.

If a spouse dies in sole possession of a property, doesn't the surviving spouse have to take out probate in order to inherit it, while if it's jointly owned, ownership of the deceased spouse's share transfers automatically?

partnership said:

Thanks Danny boy, I thought it might make things easier if anything happened him.

Click to expand...

That's a different question!

As you are married, your home is protected. It cannot be sold or mortgaged without both parties consent.

Do you have children & have you both made wills?

If the property were put in joint names by way of 'joint tenancy' it falls outside the Will and on the death of one party the survivor takes all. The protections even if it is in a single name mean it cannot be sold or used as security under Family Home Protection Act 1984. The cost of putting the property in joint names (joint tenancy option) I think is not expensive.

At the time my late parents made their wills they also executed a deed of transfer, putting the family home into their joint names. The consideration for same was "natural love and affection", and I learned when dealing with their estates that it is a widely used in circumstances such as theirs.

It certainly meant dealing with their estates easier as nothing needed to be done except adding my late Dad's death cert. To the deep pack when he pre-deceased my Mother.

I can't speak to what the cost of the process was.

Just checking back in. Had contacted solicitor who wouldn't give me an estimate until I contacted mortgage holder about. Does anyone know the cost of this? Also we hope to rent it out and go abroad. Is there any tax benefit to it just being in one person's name

DannyBoyD said:

If you are married, property is deemed to be in both your names, so you don't need to do anything.

Click to expand...

This is not true.

partnership said:

House is in husbands name because it was his family home and we used his share as deposit and bought siblings out. Solicitor said we would pay tax if my name put on it but could change in s few years. Is this something we can do without solicitor. Mortgage is in both names.

Click to expand...

Your husband can transfer the house into your joint names, and you will then own it in equal shares. The transfer will not attract gift tax, and will not trigger a charge to capital gains tax. No stamp duty will be payable. There will be a land registry fee payable to register the transfer, but this will not be huge. You will need the mortgagee's consent but you should get it without difficulty. You will need a solicitor to draw up the transfer, but I would have thought that this would not be an expensive job.

I don't see any tax benefit to the house being in just one person's name. If anything, it's more likely to be the reverse. This is quite technical and I could have it wrong but, as I understand it, if as you suggest you go abroad and rent the property out, as non-residents you won't be able to elect for joint assessment. If the property belongs to your husband alone then so does the rental income, and he will be taxed a single person on the whole of the rent — he can't take advantage of any tax credits and reliefs which might be available to you. But if the property is in joint names you are each taxed on 50% of the rental income, and each of you can utilise your tax credits/reliefs, which should result in a lower, perhaps significantly lower, aggregate tax bill.

Well worth having home in joint names to avoid problems/delays on death of one spouse. The solicitors fee should be minimal. There might be outlays such as land registry fees etc.

@TomEdison “You will need the mortgagee's consent but you should get it without difficulty.”

I’m in the same situation as the OP and when I contacted the bank they wanted a new application submitted with spouse’s financials included and since I’m self employed it was opening a big rigmarole so we didn’t do it… what do you think?

8till8 said:

I’m in the same situation as the OP and when I contacted the bank they wanted a new application submitted with spouse’s financials included and since I’m self employed it was opening a big rigmarole so we didn’t do it… what do you think?

Click to expand...

In OPs case though mortgage is already in joint names, it's just the deeds need changing. My reading of your situation is you're adding spouse on to mortgage as well which normally would require an application/id etc although I'm not sure whether or not you could argue the need for financial bits as you already have the money so what good is income info to them, even if you had none sure what can they do! They probably would want to run a credit check though on second applicant.

What Monbretia said. The OP's position is that the spuose is already a co-borrower, so the bank has already assessed their financial situation and decided that they're a satisfactory risk for the amount of the mortgage. Making her co-owner of the house as well as co-borrowing on the loan doesn't expose the bank to any additional risk. Your situation is not the same if your spouse isn't already a co-borrower.