House Deeds in DH's name only- pitfalls of this?

[hillygirl]

I'm just wondering what the pitfalls of this are, and what the options are to avoid these pitfalls. For example if he dies do I automatically get the house? Do I have to pay inheritance tax on it if I do. We have one son and DH has no other dependants. Are there ways to safeguard my inheritance of the house without putting my name on the deeds/mortgagae?
Just wondering as I'd like to go on the deeds and mortgage for peace of mind but mortgage company want 300 quid to do that; on top of which we wil have legal fees of I don't know how much to transfer the deeds into our joint names. I called a lawyer to ask but they wanted 200 quid plus VAT to give us advice.

I think that if you are married it all tranfers over to you in the event of his death anyway, regardless of whether your name is on the deeds or not.

I don't think you have to pay inheritance tax either on spousal inheritance. That said I am not a solicitor!

In the event of him dying, I think Nom is right; if he should leave for any other reason, the situation will be more complicated if your name is not on the deeds.

Oh, and if he defaults on the mortgage or goes bankrupt, again, I think you'd probably end up ok, but it would all be more complicated and expensive to sort out.

if you're married and it is 'the marital home' then you are both owners no matter what it says on the deeds or who paid what.

one of the advantages of marriage.

so you'd get the house if he died, and if you split you're both equally entitled to it (though not profit from it's sale).

It doesn't necessarily transfer over to you, unfortunately if your DH dies intestate (without making a will):
If you are married or are in a civil partnership, the first person entitled to your estate under the intestacy rules is your spouse/civil partner, but he or she will not necessarily inherit the whole of your estate.
The amount your spouse/civil partner would inherit depends on how much is in your estate and which of your blood relatives survive you. Assets held in joint names usually pass automatically to the other joint owner(s) and do not form part of your estate (if you are unsure about the type of joint ownership you share with another, you should consider seeking legal advice).
For dates of death after 1 February 2009

1. Where the net estate is not more than £250,000 ? Everything to spouse/ civil partner
2. Where the net estate is over £250,000 ? the first £250,000 plus personal possessions to the spouse/civil partner

Half of the rest is shared equally amongst the children . The spouse/civil partner gets the income or interest on the other half during his/her lifetime, and when the spouse or civil partner dies, the capital goes to the deceased?s children equally. I've copied this from the Probate Service website.

Ideally, if your DH is happy about this, it would be far better to change the house into joint ownership as then it would pass to you automatically on his death.
(Sorry to be morbid).

Thanks for your responses. That's worrying about the interstate rules. If the estate's worth over 250,000 anything over 250,000 goes to the kids. Hmmm. lawyers are saying 300 quid to put deeds in my name, mortgage company also want 300 to put my name on the mortgage!

What about just making wills?

I would just ensure he has a valid will

shop around.

any licensed conveyancer could put the deeds in your name, and I would expect you could find someone to do it for more like £125 + VAT. The mortgage co could be a bit more tricky, but they might negotiate on the charge.

like AvengingGerbil says, if you run into financial problems, it could be tricky - eg the mortgage co refusing to speak to you, or you not being able to see any of the accounts.