Does it matter if I’m not on house deeds?

[RhubarbRocks]

Before we married I sold my house and moved into my now DH’s house. We used the proceeds of my house sale to pay off the mortgage.

We are now married and have looked into getting my name onto the deeds. However, the solicitor is quoting £1000 plus VAT to do it - money we could do without spending!

We are about to update our wills and other than small cash gifts to our siblings will be leaving everything to each other anyway. (And then onto our son who we are expecting soon).

Does it therefore matter that I’m not on the deeds? Ie any downsides to saving £1.2k by not putting my name on the deeds?

Sorry to be blunt but it will save you a whole load of stress and aggravation if he dies (does he have a will with you as beneficiary).

You do know that you can fill in the forms yourself and just pay the land registry fee which was £40 6 years ago?

You can do this yourself.

But for info. We did it recently and the fees were as follows. Using a local solicitor.

Solicitor fee to Register mortgage as discharged.
£120 + vat=£144

Land Registry fee for above £27

Solicitor fee to name change on deeds
£250 + vat = £300

Land Registry fee = scale 2 depending on how it’s done fee is either £30 or £70

He could change his Will at any time without telling you
You could divorce - you would need to prove a beneficial interest in the property that you don’t own
I’m guessing the £1k is a tiny percentage of the value of the property, and a tiny percentage of any future legal costs you may face if either of the above occurs.

You can do it yourself. Same as many other things solicitors charge and arm and a leg for

I agree with VanCleefArpals, £1k is a tiny fraction of the value of a huge asset, that, in the event of any issues in future, could cost you way more to sort after the event.

Additionally, as you’re married, I’d not be as worried about divorce or death (there are other legal processes covering those) than I would about potential future debt or bankruptcy of your husband. At the moment, for the purposes of recovery of debt, charges against the property or bankruptcy, your husband owns 100% of the asset. You could be in danger of losing your home. If the asset was owned 50/50, you’d be a bit more protected.

Is there anything legal to say you financially contributed to paying it off? If no then you were daft not getting added to the deeds then

He could leave you (and yes you may be happy now but you don’t know what the future holds) and if it’s solely in his name you leave with a hefty bill

This happened to a (very daft) friend of mine. She sold her flat, made quite a lot on it, paid money into her partner’s house, bought him a car, holidays etc. They split up and she ended up with nothing and barely gets anything for their daughter because he plays it well when it comes to his money

Protect your future self OP

Edited as thought they were not married but a lot of the comment is still valid. Always protect yourself when it comes to finances

Yes it does matter, but 1k is an absolute rip off. Fucking bastards. You can do it yourself, just need to get your ID verified too by a solicitor, or notary, and Land Registry are very helpful and approachable via their helplines and social media messaging.

1. Definitely put both your names on the deed as a joint tenant. Then, if anything happens to either of you the house simply belongs to the remaing spouse without any legal fuss and the surviving spouse can update the land registry to remove the deceased spouse's name very easily.

If you are not joint tenants, you may run the risk that other beneficiaries inherit his half and you might have to sell to pay them for their share!

Also as PPs have said, he can change his will at any time but he cannot take your name off the deed.

1. Use a solicitor, if necessary, to document your financial contribution so that if things do go pear-shaped you can retreive your investement. I have a friend now who used £100K inheritance for the downpayment on their house. Now that she is divorcing, the house value will divided equally between them but really she should have the first £100K and then the remainder should be divided between them.

He could change his Will at any time without telling you

True but, as they are married, OP would have a claim under the Inheritance Act if he does not make adequate provision for her in his will.

You could divorce - you would need to prove a beneficial interest in the property that you don’t own

Rubbish. If they divorce, the house will go into the pot to be divided between them. If they were not married OP would have to prove a beneficial interest. As they are married, she does not need to prove that at all.

Having said that, if the house is put into joint names and OP and her husband own it as joint tenants, it will automatically become hers if he dies. On the other hand, if they own it as tenants in common, she could take steps to ensure their son will inherit at least 50% of the house whatever happens

You are married so there's some protection but on the face of it you don't own any of the house.

What would happen if DH died? You have to think worst case scenario.

£1000 may sound a lot but compared to the value of the house it is not much.

Don't be a passenger in your life, get this sorted - it looks like you can save some money doing it yourself.

Get it changed, even if you do the forms yourself. If you have ever had to deal with probate, the more everything is formalised, the easier it makes life.

I'm shocked that you were not advised to own the property jointly by the solicitor who facilitated you paying your mortgage off!
But as that ship has sailed, now you definitely need to become a joint owner of the property!
Shop around and get another quote, but whatever it costs it is worth it!

Thanks all, really helpful and we will look into doing it ourselves.