How do you hold the ownership of your property?
How do you hold the ownership of your property?
There are three main ways to hold the ownership of your property in this country.
If you are single, have no minor children and own your property outright, with no shared ownership, you will have little problem. You are free to leave your property to whoever you wish and to whatever institutions you wish.
However, if you own any property in shared ownership – such as ‘Joint Tenants’ or ‘Tenants in Common’ – you will need to understand how this affects your right to give away this property by your Will.
Where property is held by more than one person as Joint Tenants, on the death of one joint owner that interest automatically passes by the law of survivorship to the surviving joint owner.
Jointly owned property will pass to the survivor no matter how short the period of survivorship may be and despite anything said to the contrary in the Will.
Apart from the family home, some other types of property pass on death independently of the terms specified in the Will.
These include nominated property, Life Assurance Policies, Pension and Death in Service Benefits, Joint Bank Accounts.
Where land or property is held by more than one person as Tenants in Common, the share of each co-owner passes on his/her death under the terms of the Will.
Each owner in common is free to leave his/her share to whoever they want. It is this ability to be able to leave each individual share of the family home, by your Will to your ultimate beneficiaries, that opens various advantageous options in your estate planning.
To sever a Joint Tenancy to Tenancy in Common involves drafting a Notice of Severance that in effect notifies each other of the intention to sever the existing ownership status of the property and applying to Land Registry Office to enter the appropriate restriction on the Title
Joint Tenants
- Property passes to survivor regardless of instructions in the Will
- Property will pass irrespective of survivorship period
Tenants in Common
- Ability to ‘gift’ your share of the property upon your death
- The family home may be your main legacy to your children – severance of tenancy can protect the property from future unforeseen situations
- Can ensure your legacy will benefit your bloodline and protect from sideways disinheritance
- A life interest in your share will protect your spouse from a forced sell