Should I go for a prenup or a deed of trust? Or both?

[BlueBerry9]

Hi all, I've changed my username for privacy here. I hope that somebody will be able to point me in the right direction.

I am getting married in a few months and trying to figure out the best way to protect my assets should the worst happen.

My fiancé and I live in my small house which I inherited a long time ago. I own it 100% with no mortgage and I think it's worth around £350 - £400k. We have joint cash savings which are very modest in comparison.

Our plan is to get married, then sell my house to buy a bigger one together. We will need a mortgage which we can contribute to 50/50 but the deposit will be entirely from the sale of my house.

I realise that once we're married, everything will be considered joint property and there is no guaranteed way to ring fence anything (we live in England btw.) But what should I do to give myself the best chance of holding on to the assets I'm bringing in to the marriage? Especially considering my property will be liquidated and put towards a shared house?

I have read about pre-nups, deeds of trust, being tenants in common instead of joint tenants. I'm confused about which one would be best (or a combination?)

If anyone could shed any light, I'll be very happy!

Combination of all 3. Prenups whilst not binding are very much persuasive and indicates the intention should you split. The other two protect you now and again show intention but would be ignored and would be marital assets for the pot. Again it further evidences the intention should you split. Its a belt and braces approach to do all 3 and gives the best shot of a court finding it was intended to be kept outside marital assets if you split.

Prenups are far more binding than many posters seem to think. Provided a prenup is properly drawn up and executed, you both take independent legal advice, there is full financial disclosure and neither of you is coerced into signing, the courts will uphold a prenup unless it is clearly unfair in the circumstances, e.g. it leaves one spouse destitute or there have been children and the prenup fails to make adequate provision for them. Even if the courts decide it is necessary to depart from a prenup, they will keep as close to it as possible.

Deeds of trust and tenants in common go together. Being tenants in common means you each own a proportion of the house. If there is no deed of trust, you each own 50% of it. If there is a deed of trust, it can specify how much you each own. In divorce, a deed of trust will be considered by the courts as an indicator of your intentions, but it carries much less weight than a prenup.

Thanks for your advice, both of you. It’s very helpful.