Finally making a will, tenants in common or joint?

[Smallngrumpy]

After many years together we are finally getting a will sorted this year.
My eldest will be 18 so able to look after youngest 13 if anything should happen to use both.
The issue we have is if we should change our property ownership from joint to in common, leaving to kids on death, with ability for co owner to remain in property until their death.
Are there any downsides to this??

are these both your children or just yours?

@fruity81 Yes both kids are ours jointly.

I’d advise consulting a solicitor who will be able to give proper advice for your circumstances.

Depends how strongly you feel about the risk of your spouse/partner meeting someone else if you go first, and your children being disinherited.

Likewise if your other half dies first and you meet someone else, but then divorce, your deceased OH’s share of the house is protected from the new one, if you sever the tenancy and have trusts written into the will that come to life on first death.

Just to add to this - although it probably doesn't come into your consideration at the moment and the rules may well change in the future anyway.

Currently, if one spouse dies and the other goes into a care home then most of the value of your home can be taken after you die to pay for your care home fees if you are joint tenants.

In contrast, with tenants in common then only most of your 50% share of the home can be taken to pay care home fees and the other 50% is protected from this.

"My eldest will be 18 so able to look after youngest 13"

Having a guess at your age, to be frank, this is something more that your parents might want to be thinking about at the moment.

My parents were tenants in common. I found it a little bit confusing when they had both died as we needed to get someone else to sign something, with there being two tenants. I didn't really understand this and I don't know if the fact it was during the pandemic that confused things .

In a nut shell, a lot of the tenants in common things apply when 1 tenant has died. Ask your solicitor to explain clearly what happens when both tenants in common have died.

We did exactly what you are proposing to do.

I think it's unlikely that I will die before my husband (he's 10 years older) and if I do I think it's very unlikely that he will remarry and disinherit my (our) children. But in the event that he does, at least they will share my half of the house.