Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

Cohabiting - child’s inheritance

8 replies

Ticrosoftmeams · 13/06/2023 20:16

I’m taking legal advice later this week but interested in people’s experience. Partner and I cohabiting, I am going to pay him half the value of his house and he’ll use those funds to clear the mortgage, all via a solicitor. I have an adult son aged 20, my partner is is child free. I believe my options to protect my son’s inheritance are either to own the house as tenants in common with a trust set up, or as joint tenants and take out life insurance with my son as beneficiary. The latter seems cleaner though more costly. With the trust, how is the value of the asset protected? Could the surviving spouse sell the house, downsize and blow the equity? What if their needs changed and they needed a bungalow? Thank you

OP posts:
GrannyRose15 · 05/10/2023 21:45

First question. Are you in England? If so you can leave your money to whom you like. You can leave the house to your son and if you wish to make a stipulation that your partner can live there for as long as he needs to. I’d be more concerned about the money you are putting into your partners house. Who is going to own that one? And where will it go when your partner dies? He can leave it to whosoever he wishes and that will probably not be your son. And unless you are very careful you won’t have a claim on it either as you will never have lived there. Please proceed with caution.

TheBabylonian · 07/10/2023 18:21

I assume there is only one house?

So you are living with him in his house and plan on effectively buying half of that house and he will pay off the mortgage with those funds you provide?

If so then just make sure you are put on the deeds as joint (50%) ownership each and write a will leaving your estate (your 50% of the house) to your son.

Sisterpita · 07/10/2023 22:53

Make sure the house is owned as tenants in common. Ask the solicitor to explain the implication for your DC if you own it as joint tenants.

GrannyRose15 · 08/10/2023 20:34

I obviously misunderstood. You are moving into his house. So what Babylonia says is right.

GrannyRose15 · 08/10/2023 20:36

But you need to be tenants in common otherwise your half will automatically go to your partner and not your son if you die first.

Ilefttownonsaturday · 08/10/2023 20:50

This has the potential to go wrong because your partner could pay off his mortgage with your money and still have the deeds in his name. So effectively, the house still legally belongs to him. You need to ensure the house is held as tenants in common and not jointly. The house needs to be registered with the land registry under a tenants in common arrangement.

I'd buy a separate house jointly with your son instead and just pay your dp rent. I prefer to keep Everything separate with none married partners. It makes it easy to move forward if the relationship breaks down.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership/living-together-and-marriage-legal-differences/#:~:text=Your%20legal%20rights%20as%20a,than%20if%20you're%20married.

Living together and marriage: legal differences

Differences between how the law treats married and cohabiting couples including financial matters, responsibility for children and housing.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership/living-together-and-marriage-legal-differences#:~:text=Your%20legal%20rights%20as%20a,than%20if%20you're%20married.

endofthelinefinally · 08/10/2023 20:54

So much potential for disaster. You need an IHT/ estate planner.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page