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When someone dies without leaving a will in The AnswerBank: Business & Finance
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When someone dies without leaving a will

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stefos | 15:35 Fri 11th Aug 2006 | Business & Finance
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When a house is in joint names does it have to be included if it goes to probate should one party die intestate
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Yes - half the value of the house forms part of the deceased's estate even if it automaticaaly passes to the other party
Not if it is held as 'joint tenancy' - the most common way for couples to own their own homes.

In their lifetime, both as a union own the whole. On death the whole automatically passes to the surviving partner.

People can also buy property as 'tenantsin common' - each owns a defined share - 50% as example. Each can sell their share and on death, the share is dealt with by their will.

Joint tenancy - not included in probate.

Tenancy in common - included in probate.
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Automatically passes to survivor if tenants in common - yes. But 50% of its value is still part of the deceased's estate for inheritance tax purposes and must therefore be included in the account of the estate that goes to the Inland Revenue when you apply for probate.

True, you don't need probate to transfer ownership - but you still owe tax if the estate is big enough.
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many thanks everyone for your replies, it has certainly cleared things up.
dzug - I think your answers are unclear and can be misleading:-

1. If it is owned as tenants in common it does NOT automatically pass to the survivor on death - it is dealt with under the Will of the deceased, or intestacy provisions if there is no Will. It has to be included in the probate and counts towards any inheritance tax liability.

2. If it is owned as joint tenants it DOES automatically pass to the survivor on death. It is NOT then part of the deceased's estate, so it does not get included in the probate and does not count towards any liability to inheritance tax.
oops got joint/in common wrong way round, sorry

Not convinced that it doesn't count for IHT calculations though - but in most cases in reality it will be covered by the spouse exemption.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/customerguide/page7 .htm

would seem to bear me out.
Yes, I agree it does bear you out. Quite different from what I'd always understood! Sorry.

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