Shared property

[Snowwhite]

Should a divorcing couple who plan to continue living in their jointly owned house, have a tennancy in common agreement?

[Buenchico]

It's probably a good idea, because it means that each person can leave their share of the property, to their chosen beneficiaries, in their will.

If the ownership of the property remains as a joint tenancy, then the surviving person would automatically take ownership of the whole house upon the death of the other.

Of course, if the divorce is reasonably amicable (which it might well be if the couple plan on continuing to live in the same house), the couple might prefer to agree that the house will go to the surviving person upon the death of one of them. If so, they could either stay with a joint tenancy or switch to a tenancy in common but make suitable provision in their wills. (The difference there, of course, is that wills can be changed, so there really would have to be a great deal of trust between the two people if a joint tenancy was to be preserved).

This might be relevant:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/tax-advice/inheri tance-tax/article.html?in_article_id=404318&in _page_id=78

Chris