Tenants in common

[Lorddenning1]

Not that we plan to divorce or die but I was just wondering what happens when you are tenants in common, does that still stand?

So my husband owns the first £160,000 of our house as it was his house before we married. Anything after this value is then split 50/50.

I have 2 sons from a previous relationship and he has 1 daughter, we also have a son between us. We have said we would leave the house to the children 25% each.

But what happens if we divorce, I was led to believe that everything would be split 50/50 in a marriage but does that still apply to tennants in common, I think it doesn't and the terms in the deeds would still apply.

Also what happens if he died before me, what would happen to his £160,000 would this be split between his daughter and our son, would I need to buy them out to keep my home?

Same goes for me, what if I die first, what would happen to my share of the house, would it be passed to my 3 sons.

Death and divorce is not a topic that I would like to think about, but threads on Mumsnet has made me question my own set up if the worse was to happen.

TIA

50/50 is a starting assumption for the judge not a hard and fast rule, they would consider the deed in a divorce but it might depend on your circumstances and assets more generally as to whether it was up held.

One of you dying it depends what your will says and how old kids are. Does it not stipulate lifetime interest for the other one before the share is due?

Thanks for your reply, we don't actually have wills, so I think that's the first thing we need to do here.
Would you say the best thing to do would be lifetime interest for the remaining person and then 25% each to the children. I would be happy with this.

We have the house and some savings and he is due to inherit money from his mums estate as she has recently passed away, this is what has perhaps been playing on my mind that we don't have anything set up.

Say your house was purchased at £320k, then he already owns half (his £160k). So the remaining half is split between you so you own 25% and hi. 75%.
We actually stated the percentage we both own on a recent purchase.
You need a will to know what happens to each share upon death.

"...we don't actually have wills, so I think that's the first thing we need to do here."

Very much so, yes.

"...and then 25% each to the children"

That's certainly a good starting point. Something that you may also wish to consider is that your DSs will also likely inherit from their own father and your DSD will also likely inherit from her own mother.

Your joint child will only inherit from the two of you. If it is likely that the three older children will inherit from the other parent as well then you may wish to give slightly more to your joint child.

@JoyousPinkPeer we did a value rather than a percentage because he owned the house outright with no mortgage, after we had it valued we then applied for a mortgage and did major renovations on the property and has increased in value, at the same time as the mortgage, I was put in the deeds. The mortgage is in both names now.

@Another2Cats it's very unlikely my sons will inherit anything from their father, he is currently in social housing with no job due a disability.
My DSD possibility maybe in the future if her mother's circumstances change a lot, she currently rents in a low paying job, but you never know.

Surely his biological children inherit the first £160,000 and 50% of the rest and your biological children inherit the other 50% of what is left.

25% for each of the children I don’t this fair on your husband’s eldest daughter (or your joint child) whose father owned the house outright before you moved in.

I don’t think potential inheritance from other sources should be taken into account. Your joint child inherits 50% from Dad and 33% from you.

My husband’s 50% goes to his child my 50% goes to mine

@ChorltonCreamery he is happy to do the 25% for each of the 4 children, he has been in their life since they were very young and is raising them with me, he does more for them than their own father.
I think it can get messy because the joint son we both have will inherit the most as he would get half of his dad's share and then a 3rd of my share.
As we have 4 between us, splitting it between the 4 is something we are both happy with.
What I'm worried about is if he died now without a will, part of his share would go to the children now, I think, even if we are married, it wouldn't it?

From everything you say, splitting the money equally does sound the most appropriate thing to do.

"What I'm worried about is if he died now without a will, part of his share would go to the children now, I think, even if we are married, it wouldn't it?"

It varies depending on where you live. The rules in Scotland are slightly different to those in England & Wales.

Presuming you live in England or Wales then it all depends on the total value of his estate (his share of the family home plus any money or other assets [eg shares, ISA etc] that is in a bank account in his own name - joint bank accounts are not included).

Currently, the first £322,000 of his estate goes to you as his spouse. If his estate is worth less than this then you get everything. You also get all his personal belongings etc.

Anything over £322k is split equally with you getting 50% and his children sharing the other 50%.

So, for example, if his estate was worth £422k then you would get the first £322k leaving £100k. That £100k is split 50/50 between you and his children.

So, you would get £372k (£322k + £50k). Your joint child would get £25k and your step daughter would also get £25k. If they were under 18 when he died then the money would be kept on trust until they reached the age of 18.
.

If you and he have a joint bank account then that will pass to you anyway outside of the intestacy rules by way of survivorship.

@Another2Cats thank you for your advice, it's goods to know, we are going to sort our wills out after Christmas too.