Tenancy in common

[Kelly Jo]

I currently have a property worth �185,000 and a mortage of �95,000 which I brought on my own. I have now met somebody and rather than move we have decided for my partner to pay me �8,000 to be named on my deeds, thus I intend to have a tenancy in common contract drawn up. Firstly how do I go about this and secondly what happens if we do split up in years to come how do we calculate who gets what?

[Didwot]

To create a tenancy in common you will have to transfer the title of the property into joint names, which may be an unnecessary expense.
What you really need is a deed drawn up by a competent lawyer which sets out thath the property is in your sole name, but that your partner has a defined interest in the proceeds of sale (4.3%? ie his payment to you as a percentage of the present value), who pays what and so on while the property is still owned, and the circumstances under which it will be sold.
Such a deed should answer all your questions

[zmudge]

As you have a mortgage you can do nothing of the sort proposed without the consent of the lender. You should therefore contact your mortgage company and tell them of your proposal. You will find that they will take the matter over (to ensure that nobody takes unfair advantage of them) and will insist on doing all the work themselves (yours and theirs and with the Land Registry and Stamp Duty office). They will call your proposed transaction "Transfer of Equity" - it is quite common. They will require you to appoint a solicitor, and may insist upon another one for your partner, and this must be accepted.  Your mortgage company will charge around �250 + Registry Fee �40. Some transactions of this sort attract Stamp Duty, so be sure to check your position. The individual solicitors will charge you around �200 each if the Transfer of Equity is straightforward - more for complication.

[Didwot]

zmudge's answer proves my point. To transfer the property into joint names will cause unnecessary expense.
That is why I put forward the alternative suggestion of a simple trust deed.

[sandras]

I would suggest that prudence be king in this situation - �8k for a 50% stake in a property - are you sure that is what you really should be considering in this day and age - I think NOT.

Once his name is on the deeds, in my mind he would be entitled to half in the event of you splitting up, whilst you mention a tenancy in common, I would want more than that - I would want a pre-nuptual agreement, where he also agrees that should he leave you that he gets to keep only what he put in (no offence)

Love is one thing, but your money is yours.

You need to get in touch with a Solicitor immediately and don't let �8k flaw your judgement or love for that matter.

I speak from experience - I had 5 houses, fell in love, got married, put his name on the deeds, (no fee charged) and when we sought to split up, that's when I realised that he was entitled to half of everything!!!! He never paid a penny to anything - be careful - �8k is peanuts - he needs to stump up half to claim half on a trade in. (Needless to say - we are still together, business id business after all)

Best of luck