i would like to add my partner to my house deeds. i do not have a mortgage. how do i do it?

[housedeeds]

i would like to add my partner to my house deeds. i do not have a mortgage. how do i do it?

[Evorg Enaj]

Just look in your Telephone Book and find the telephone number of the District Land Registry Office for the area in which you live. Telephone this number, speak to Customer Services, explain clearly what it is you seek to do and they will guide you through the procedure and advise you of the fee(s).

[stanleyman]

I agree with ZeBuk you should consider the worst senario but it does depend on your circumstances. You should also consider the tax implications and the fact you may have to pay stamp duty. Take legal advice before doing anything, you might also find the easiest way is to make a will with provision for your partner in the form of the house. If it were to all go wrong between you then you simply change your will.

[vehelpfulguy]

THINK VERY CAREFULLY BEFORE DOING THIS.

If you do this you are giving them half the value of your house.

If you split up they can demand their half and you may have to sell the house to pay them off.

BE EXTTRA CAREFUL IF THEY ARE PRESSURING YOU TO DO THIS.

[kev100]

Simply put DONT DO IT

[Cetti]

I also say 'don't do it' and not because of any moral issue, but simply because of the expense. For some reason my name is not on our deeds and my husband went to our solicitor to rectify it..... then decided it would be cheaper to move house and put my name on the new deeds.

[Evorg Enaj]

That's a bit misleading I'm afraid, Cetti. Without a mortgage if no money changes hands all that is involved is a bit of DIY form filling and the Land Registry fee of about �30. No solicitor is necessary. If money changes hands then there may be a charge to Stamp Duty Land Tax which can be checked by phoning 0845 6030135. There are no deeds these days, they were done away with years ago, and all that counts now is how you are Registered on the Land Registry computer. The negative advise given to housedeeds is totally false - all property where two people are living together should be jointly owned preferably as joint tenants, and over the years there have been many moves in Parliament to make this mandatory, although so far without success. Between marrieds there is no Inheritance Tax liability, between unmarrieds the Revenue view making someone a joint tenant without payment as a gift, and if the donor dies within 7 years some part of the value may be added to the estate for the Inheritance Tax calculation.

[les saisies]

Do not do it.

The negatives far outweigh the positives.

[stanleyman]

I should point out that not all land, this includes the buildings, is registered yet and there are still a lot of deeds out there. The gift of all or half a house needs thinking about.

I don't think it right that living with a house owner without any legal or long term commitment, financial input or parental responsibility should entitle them to a half share in the property.

If that were the case then there would be a lot of gold diggers about but if there is anyone interested, for a half share in your house, my diary is clear!

[Cetti]

With the greatest respect Evorg that is totally wrong. The solicitor told us that to add my name to the deeds was very expensive and to us �300 + was a hell of a lot of money...but the good news housedeeds is that the solicitor also told us the easy way.... to put the name of your partner in your will (presuming you want to!) - and that's all there is to it.

[Evorg Enaj]

That is again misleading. By far the majority of land in the UK is registered. However, if by chance housedeeds land is unregistered then, when creating a joint tenancy with his partner, it is obligatory under the law to Register the land. That only involves one more Land Registry form and a fee of �40. No solicitors, nothing complicated. The deeds are then of no practical use. The rest of what is written above is so superficial as to be piffling.

[Evorg Enaj]

Sorry, Cetti, your post appeared whilst I was typing the other one. What your solicitor told you is correct if you instruct a solicitor to do the job for you. However, this sort of thing has long since been intentionally simplified by the Land Registry so that any ordinary literate person can DIY. You do not need a solicitor. In point of fact, it is so simple that you as an individual can go to the LR website, download the forms, check the fee, have your signatures witnessed by a relative, neighbour or friend, send the forms to your District LR and within a week you will be, and should be, a joint tenant. It is wrong that you are not. And the total cost to you will be about �30 unless, as I have said above your land is unregistered, when you will have to add another �40. Nothing more to it.

[Evorg Enaj]

Perhaps I should add that the will suggestion is quite wrong. With a joint tenancy, at a death the property passes simply and automatically to the survivor. The formality at the Land Registry is very simple, it does not require a solicitor, and the fee is �30. There is no probate or IHT involvement. It is designed to be and is simplicity itself, without stress or distress to the survivor, and the survivor knows with complete certainty that the house is theirs. Not so with a will. A will can be challenged, requires probate, involves IHT and the Revenue, can take a long time and can involve uncertainty, stress and distress and often the parent and children and previously close relatives fall out particulaly where property is involved. Joint tenancy is the correct way, not will.

[Cetti]

This is the article to read - "Is My Name On the Deeds?" and nowhere does it mention Land Registry.

http://tinyurl.co.uk/fvux

[stanleyman]

I don't know what is misleading you Evorg. A majority of registered land would be 51%, as I said there are a lot of deeds still out there where property has not been sold for many years. I know many people still with deeds.

Whilst you are perfectly right as to the fairly recent need to register the land if a change occurs, the posts are from people who, without knowing any of housedeeds circumstances are simply urging him or her to be careful. What right do you have to call that superficial and piffling, do you know everything?

You on the otherhand have made many assumptions and are seeking to impose your views on others without knowing these circumstances. Whether you consider it right or not, the fact is there is no legal right to a partners property.

I agree there should be some right to the roof over your head when it has been earned but where do you draw the line between a long term and a short term relationship? Is it right that someone living with a houseowner for perhaps only a few months then clears off with half the proceeds of perhaps a lifetimes work?

On the otherhand I don't need to ask if it is right for someone to lose any right to their long term home after a breakup. Perhaps you have been affected this way?

[Evorg Enaj]

Your article refers to deeds, Cetti, and in this respect is years out of date. However, you do not have to believe me. On Monday just simply phone your District Land Registry Office and ask them. It will cost you nothing other than the phone call.

[Evorg Enaj]

Did you phone your local Land Registry today, Cetti? Shall be interested to hear how you got on.

[lady_p_gold]

Well that is the whole point of the Answerbank you get bits of information from different people, some experts, some half experts and some who think they are experts ! It usually steers you to the right path or certainly increases your options of getting it right. I think the problem here is that Enaj is speaking without emotion and merely factually, whereas others are looking at it more emotively. Its pretty obvious what her job is! My advice would be not to do it, but that is only the voice of my own personal experience talking !

[SHP53]

Although this is an old conversation, I have stumbled upon it as I sought to find out how to correct an error that put only my name on the mortgage when we bought this house, which in turn meant that the house is registered in only my name at the Land Registry rather than in joint names with my partner. Because of the contradictory comments, I rang the Land Registry Helpline (0844 892 1111) where a very helpful man explained that I would need to submit Forms TR1, AP1 and ID 1. When these were processed my partner would be added to the Registry for a fee of about £70. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this can only be done if both names are on the mortgage. So I duly rang my mortgage provider (LloydsTSB) who explained that to do so I would effectively have to close my current mortgage and open a new one in joint names. Moreover, this would have to be done through a solicitor. Other than paying the stamp duty, this would therefore be like selling and then re-purchasing my own house. LloydsTSB charges would be in the region of £260 + VAT (£312 at 2011 rates), plus there would be the various solicitor’s charges and costs. Overall, adding my partner’s name to the mortgage would therefore cost me in excess of £1,000. The LloydsTSB advisor was apologetic and explained that this is all due to the requirements of the Financial Services Authority. The whole point of this exercise was to ensure that my partner would be recognised in law as the owner of our house should I die. I am therefore going to resolve this matter by making that clear in my will, the cost of doing being trivial in comparison to changing the mortgage.