Changing property equity before separation

[ciechanm]

Hi all. I'm new here and desperate for any advice...

We have bought our property 3 years ago as joint tenants (equal share) although I have put the whole deposit in it £25k.
Recently we have started to thinking about separation maybe even divorce. We tried to fix our marriage but have no luck. Now I am starting to thinking how stupid I was by agreeing to have an equal share on the house.

I have spoken to my wife and told her that in my opinion she is a materialist and I made a wrong decision to agree for 50/50 equity. She said that I'm wrong and we can change the equity shares to my favour and she will sign it. I won't believe in that until I see her signature on the document (as I know she talks a lot, not always truth).

Anyway, can you advise me which document should we use for such thing to be legally binding (jist in case) and how to do it?

Thanks in advance,
Martin.

I’m not a legal expert but would suggest having a declaration of trust drawn up by a solicitor which would mean you and your dp become “tenants in common”.
This means you both agree on what percentage of the equity you each hold should you decide to separate.
I’m not sure how it works if you already have a document drawn up but would imagine it’s doable, especially if , as you say, your dp is in agreement.

I heard that changing to tenants in common is one thing but also heard about "declaration of trust". Not sure how to do it to be legal binding. But thanks for quick response

You need to see a solicitor who will draw it up for both of you.
Once you’ve both signed it’s legally binding. Best get it sorted now before things start to get messy and you lose your 25k!

But if your married it is a marital asset regardless...

What babybarrister said. Also, if you were to do this you would need separate legal advice from each other.

Anyway, if you're so unmaterialistic, why does it matter to you?