Property ownership question.

Dis86

Dis86

Dis86

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Easy answer is get legal advice but wondering if anyone here has a clue on this?

Father and partner have separated. They have joint ownership of a property. She has no children. I'm my father's only child. In the event that she passes does the property automatically revert to his sole possession? In the event that he passes is the same true or does his share revert to me as beneficiary of his will?

Unlikely to hit this stage as he's basically declared he wants his share which afaik means she either has to buy it out or sell?

All in all very messy and it's a shame as it's a lovely property which I know is very dear to her. Considering buying out his share my self but that causes potential headaches further down the line if she leaves it to her family/friends as I'd then have to buy them out etc.
 
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It depends whether they bought as joint tenants or tenants in common. If joint tenants they equally share the whole of the property. If one were to die the whole of the property goes to the other irrespective of any Will stating otherwise.
 
Depends how the "joint ownership" was formalised, of all the legal quandaries I see discussed on here this is in the top tier for needing top class legal advice And with, to save time and thus money, all the documentation pre prepared for the legal eagles to have immediate access to. Good luck, such can be a minefield of the sort that two solicitors could happily dine out on for years.
 
The actual ownership situation should be pretty easy to pinpoint. The leading principles on property ownership have already been dealt with, but @Dis86 you haven’t expressly said whether your dad and his partner are married or in a civil partnership. If so, the interest will pass to them by default, subjects to anything expressing a contrary intention (such as a will). [edit - bit in strike through is not correct].

Forcing a sale of the properly is a completely different question. It’s long, annoying and expensive for all involved, to the point where it makes more sense for everyone to agree to sale. If people are reasonably reluctant to sell (because of legitimate ‘reasons’ that it would be onerous for the other party) then that may be grounds to refuse the order for the sale.
 
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Me and my partner are tenants in common with unequal shares. 80:20 in my favour. So handled in the will.

Its in my will to go to her if I die. But if we break up its clear how much I need to buy her out.

If we were married we wouldn't need the will to state this.
 
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Nitefly said:
The actual ownership situation should be pretty easy to pinpoint. The leading principles on property ownership have already been dealt with, but @Dis86 you haven’t expressly said whether your dad and his partner are married or in a civil partnership. If so, the interest will pass to them by default, subjects to anything expressing a contrary intention (such as a will).

Forcing a sale of the properly is a completely different question. It’s long, annoying and expensive for all involved, to the point where it makes more sense for everyone to agree to sale. If people are reasonably reluctant to sell (because of legitimate ‘reasons’ that it would be onerous for the other party) then that may be grounds to refuse the order for the sale.
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It was a civil partnership. Its looking like he's going to formally state that he wants his share of the property. She won't be able to afford to buy him out (she's retired and would need to stump up the best part of 500k) so to me that means that unless I buy him out so she can stay there she'd have to sell up?
 
Dis86 said:
It was a civil partnership. Its looking like he's going to formally state that he wants his share of the property. She won't be able to afford to buy him out (she's retired and would need to stump up the best part of 500k) so to me that means that unless I buy him out so she can stay there she'd have to sell up?
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Was a civil partnership, or is? This is important because even if the property was held tenants in common, the ownership will still pass to her in the absence of anything to the contrary (i.e. a will) because of the civil partnership.

I misspoke in my previous post re: joint tenancy (now edited - see above). If it’s held in joint tenancy then the whole of the legal and beneficial interest will pass to her on survivorship - a will isn’t going to sort it.

This is a pretty good summary on ownership:


In short, if it’s held in a joint tenancy then your father needs to get on with getting her to agree to a sale, or at least taking steps to sever the joint tenancy and then detailing in a will that his half of the beneficial ownership should pass to you. FYI what might impact the grant of an order for a sale is if this was a vulnerable person and a sale would cause a massive upheaval of their life.

This is a pretty good summary of how a joint tenancy can be severed:

osborneslaw.com

Severance of a Joint Tenancy | Osbornes Law Solicitors

There are three main reasons for Severing a Joint Tenancy. Find out more here or call us on 020 7485 8811 to speak to an expert.
osborneslaw.com osborneslaw.com

It should be obvious, but don’t attempt any dealing with the property (including the severance of a joint tenancy) without seeking professional, non-forum legal advice on the ownership of the property and the best course of action. They will pick up on any misassumptions you have from their review of the title of the property.
 
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Dis86 said:
It was a civil partnership.
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As in, a legally registered civil partnership (equivalent to marriage in all ways)?

If so, then the dissolution of the civil partnership should have set the terms of the distribution of assets (or will be, if they've not yet dissolved it), just as in a divorce. If not, it's going to be a messy legal battle if they can't agree terms on a friendly basis.
 
Mr Jack said:
As in, a legally registered civil partnership (equivalent to marriage in all ways)?

If so, then the dissolution of the civil partnership should have set the terms of the distribution of assets (or will be, if they've not yet dissolved it), just as in a divorce. If not, it's going to be a messy legal battle if they can't agree terms on a friendly basis.
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Not legally registered but together for about 30 years.
 
Dis86 said:
Not legally registered but together for about 30 years.
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Errrr, then they are just boyfriend and girlfriend. It's not a civil partnership or husband and wife unless you have a piece of paper to show for it.

Unless things have changed, "Common Law" partnership is a myth.
 
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Isn't this when you need bloodline wills or whatever the correct legal term is. My wife and I are planning on this to ensure our children are the beneficiaries of our inheritance in the unfortunate event of death or separation.
 
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