Should we share the tenancy on new house?

[Nathan343796]

Hi,
My DH and I bought our first home 9 years ago. It was a property I was already living in, renting from my parents. We paid £80k for the house of the £125k price, with my parents ‘gifting’ me the £45k instead of an inheritance later on. As they wanted some assurance that their money would be used only for the welfare of myself and my son (from a previous relationship) they asked that DH and I buy the house as tenants in common where I would retain the full £45k plus 50% of ant equity should we later separate etc, rather than being equal joint tenants. DH begrudgingly went along with this as it meant we were able to get on the property ladder, but was left feeling like he wasn’t trusted and like our home is more mine than his.

I understand him feeling this way, however also understand my parents’ position that we’d only been together 18 months before we married and it was money they’d sacrificed to save, it didn’t come easily.

We’re now in a position where we’re looking at moving and I’m not sure what to do in terms of keeping our new purchase like the other one where I own a greater portion, or split it. I’m worried about discussing this with my husband as it’s likely to stir up difficulties. Our marriage is ok at the moment but you never know if things may come to an end one day. I don’t think my husband would try and claim it back but it’s always at the back of my mind that things could go wrong and legally I’d have no protection. Under normal circumstances, I’d just let it go and say ‘we’re married, it’s an equal split’, but our daughter has additional needs meaning I’ve given up my career to care for her and have been left with a much lower earnings potential than my husband has. If we did ever split up, he’d easily be able to buy somewhere else whereas I wouldn’t. Any thoughts please? Xx

Could you somehow include your daughter in a share, maybe in some kind of trust?

That's a good idea. So percentages - you shouldn't really just get the £45k back if you split up, it should be 36% of the selling price, so based on that could 36% of your new home be put in trust for your dd and you and dh share equally the other 64%? That way if you did split up, the original lump sum is assured (provided house prices don't fall). Would dh go for that?

You need to see a legal person for this.

Tenants in common isn’t necessarily the best way to do this. You could also protect your cash investment/deposit/£45k by way of a declaration of trust and buy the property as joint tenants. That way, upon the sale you would get your 45k back first from the proceeds and the balance would be split 50/50.

Definitely pay to see a solicitor before deciding what’s best. In order for the cash to be protected for your children as per your parents wishes, it’s the ramifications of what happens if you die that matters. That differs greatly between tenants in common and joint tenants.

Thanks so much for all your replies. We have four children between us so putting it in trust for the children isn’t really going to be an option as I would need the money toward somewhere else to live whereas if it was in trust for the children they’d have control over that. Horrible to be thinking like this as we’re a strong couple but I’ve seen so many friends separate and see the outcomes I want to make sure I make sensible decisions now. I’ll speak to the solicitor dealing with the conveyancing as he also did the deeds for our current house. I like what the above poster said about having a trust agreement rather than a percentage - to maybe get back the £45k rather than a percentage, I know it would mean a loss in real terms but as it’s a contribution to enable us to purchase our home rather than an individual investment, I feel that any ‘profit’ made from the home should be shared equally not an extra percentage on my ‘investment’. Thanks for the ideas to ask about :-) xx