Joint Ownership and Declarations of Trust

It is now becoming extremely common for parties who purchase a property together to be contributing to both the deposit and ongoing expenses including mortgage repayments for that property acquisition in unequal shares.

Many individuals do not realise that there are two different levels of ownership of the property. The legal title states the names in which a property is stated to be owned and those are the names that are recorded at the Land Registry. However, the beneficial title can be owned by the same people or different people and can be in equal or unequal shares.

Our elite legal experts are able to advise you on the most suitable form of joint ownership for your circumstances and how this should be recorded.

If your situation is a little more complex, we may recommend to you that a declaration of trust is the most suitable way to record arrangements between you.

Declarations of trust are essential where one party is contributing substantially more or all of the deposit funds. It is also common for the deposit to be funded as a gift from one of the parties families and they wish to ring-fence that particular sum of money. If one party will be paying all the outgoings or perhaps only one party residing in the property, then again these are good examples of occasions where a declaration of trust should be seriously considered.

You also need to consider how to deal with your respective share in the property following your death and your will need to stipulate what should happen to your share when you pass away and whether the co-owner will have the right to remain in the property until their passing. Our highly respected private client team will be able to advise you fully on these other aspects of joint ownership of property.

You may also consider that a cohabitation agreement would suit your circumstances best and our expert family team can draft agreements for you in this regard. 

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