Transferring property into joint names from overseas.

[HappenedForAReisling]

Can anyone tell me the process please - and do I need to use a solicitor.

I own a property outright in the UK and want to transfer it into mine and DH's names jointly. We live overseas so I'm really not sure what the process is.
Thanks!

I would first pay £3 and download on line the Land Registry deeds just to check you know the correct title number, there are no mortgage on it etc and to check it is "registered land" in England. (Scotland is different by the way so make sure you know the jurisdiction.

Then decide if the two fo you want to own it as joint tenants (usually for happy couples who will on death want the other automatically to get it) or tenants in common. if joint tenants then look at the land registry website which probably sets out what forms you need - probably some kind of transfer TR form and a fee and you probably need to draw up a short written transfer agreement betwee you and both sign it and keep it with your important papers like your wills.

As you are making a gift adn thre is no mortgage there should be no stamp duty land tax on your gift of 50% to your husband. If you want different %s each then you should draw up a deed of trust too.

It would probably be easier to use a solicitor and less risky but it will not be a legal requirement to do so.

Thank you.

I've downloaded the deeds previously, owned outright by me (no mortgage).
Joint tenants is the way we want to go.

I'm hoping to not have to use a solicitor because we're not in the UK (or even close).

If I were doing it I wuold use a solicitor (and I am a solicitor myself but don't do property law|) as I might be worried I would get it wrong but you probably just need a "transfer" document, a contract, saying you give your half to your husband and you will hold as joint tenants, then once you both sign that, then some transfer of property form to lodge at the Land Registry which is probably clear from their website and I expect there is a fee to pay. You might well need to post the documents by courier rather than upload on line but I might be wrong about that. There is no stamp duty land tax as there is no mortgage or fee being paid for the transfer.

However you might want to think about if it's wise - eg if he gets into debt then his creditors could come after this property. If he divorces you then in the country you are in the fact it is in his name here int he UK with your name might mean he gets more on a divorce etc etc. If he is foreign and you are not it might be worth checking local law abroad too as you might end up divorcing if you ever do or dying under your local law rules which may be different from here and mean it better the asset stays in your name.
Also if you are not in the UK and the property is let out in the UK you might want rental income to go to the one of you who earns the least and whose tax position is the better eg some countries will tax you on all world wide income, others have different arrangements. If you and he have different tax jurisdictions again some advice on that might be wise.

We've been married for years, have kids and own two properties outright. I think the laws here are pretty similar to the UK.

I'm not worried about divorce (I don't work, he paid cash for the UK house - it won't be like handing off half of something I've worked for in the event of a divorce, and the house we have here is worth 5 times the UK one).
It's more about making things easier for each other in the event one of us dies.
There's no income generated from the property.

I guess I need to try and find a recommendation for a decent solicitor (I most certainly don't want to use the ones who handled the house when we bought it).

It's quite straightforward to fill in the forms but you will need evidence of your identity so it's not enough to simply send a Transfer form and AP1 in. You will both need form ID1s completed by a conveyancer (if you were here) or a notary public. So you need to find someone in your country who could do that for you.

mmmmm, well you don't work and this house is in your name. I wonder if it might be safer if it were put in the name of one of the children when the first reaches 18 even to reduce inheritance tax later and to "protect" it if the marriage fails, not that I am saying it will fail.

Anyway it sounds like you just need some official notary to verify identities and get it transferred into joint names. DO be aware of the new English stamp duty land tax rules. Buying a second property if you were in future to do that comes with an extra 3% SDLT in many cases in England so the question of whose name a property is in has suddenly become very important as there is such a big extra cost when a second one is bought.

I'm not worried about the marriage failing. Our home in this country is worth 5 times what the house in the UK is and DH paid for both so he's the one with most to lose in the event of a divorce (plus I think our marriage is doing ok :) )

We won't be buying more property in the UK, I don't ever intend returning. We bought the house in the UK to help out a close family member who continues to live in it (rent-free). When they die we will sell the property and that'll be it with regards to property ownership in the UK.

I appreciate you taking the time to offer help and advice though.

Starlings We have notary publics here so I'll look closer into the ID thing - thank you for brining that to my attention.

You may need to check if there are any capital gains tax implications in doing a transfer. (relatives rearranging stuff in two countries currently so I've been researching a bit of it). There's something about non-resident capital gains tax come in quite recently, maybe 2015, depending on how long you have held the property you wish to transfer. You do need to make sure everything is checked out properly by someone knowledgeable.

..and check stamp duty issues as lots of people are now NOT putting property into more names within a family as the second property may well attract the extra 3% SDLT so if there are plans to buy other UK properties it might be material.

fucksake it's more about process than money. If it's just filling and filing papers, I can do that. If it needs more - and from what Grass said about things changing a couple of years ago then that may be the case - then I'll need help. The whole transfer into my name in the UK in the first place was done remotely so I know I don't have to visit the UK. However, the solicitor who did that was a complete dick, and having been away from the UK for so long, I have no idea who to turn to now for legal help.

Lucy, once this place is sold I will not be buying more property in the UK.
I'll see if I can think of anyone who has a conveyancing solicitor they can recommend.

If you email me on MN I can email you the one my 3 children have used and my sibling whom I know. Very responsive and uses email. Sometimes you get cheap call centres with non qualified staff and the system does not let you get through to them.

I think we only mention the wider issues above because that is always wise for people to consider in the context of property transfers. If you want to transfer it into joint names that's fine. My mother had the house transferred into joint names in the 70s. I suspect in 61 when they bought the house even though she had supported my father through her teaching wages for at least 8 years when he was a medical student they would not let it be in their joint names as she was female or something like that! Anyway she managed to insist by about 1971. (Equal pay act came out in 1970).

A lot of married (and unmarried) professional couples in London who marry and each have a flat with a mortgage and move into one flat have the dilemma of stamp duty though now as if they put the one they don't live into the name of both they have to pay extra SDLT. However if they are married it is probably sensible not to do the transfer and save the money of the tax because if they divorce it does not matter whose name things are in in terms of dividing up stuff; whereas if you are unmarried it's absolutely crucial in England.