Joint tenants or tenants in common- please help!

[Misty84]

I’ve been going round in circles with this and it’s now holding up our purchase, so any advice is much appreciated!!

I own a flat and my partner lives with me. We have had an offer accepted on a house which we will own together.

I will be putting in approx £70k more deposit than my partner. He is the higher earner and will pay two thirds of the mortgage each month. We’ll split all other bills equally.

Is it best for me to protect my deposit and choose tenants in common with unequal shares?
Or due to the fact he will be paying more of the mortgage should I choose joint tenants?
Or choose tenants in common for now and then switch to joint when married?! I really am so confused about which option is best.

He is very laid back and is just letting me decide…
He’s a good man and I’d like to think that if things went wrong we would split amicably and be fair about things- but I don’t want to be naive.

We have been together 3 years, are engaged but won’t be married for another few years due to expense, and have no children.

Thank you so much in advance.

I would definitely protect your investment to start with. It sounds like you have a lovely relationship but things change and you cannot risk your security if things didn't work out early on. It would certainly be fairer to change it further down the line but not at the outset.

Grr. I'm getting fed up of posting answers and the site crashing.

Quick response (before it crashes again). The question is about the next few years; what happens if the relationship fails? Predictions are that prices might stabilise or fall. Go TIC to protect deposit, not JT to get a share of a falling-in-value asset.

But let's hope it doesn't come to that. Well done for planning to do things in the right order (marriage before DC).

You need to decide what you want to happen upon death of either of you, not just relationship breakdown.
If he dies, would you want his percentage to pass straight to you, rather than you having to buy out his share and pass it to his estate (parents etc).
Will you be making wills in each other's favour at the same time?
Decide which outcome you both desire in all eventualities and get legal advice on how best to achieve that.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/if-you-were-living-together/what-happens-to-your-home-when-you-separate

Thank you all so much for your invaluable advice, it helped me choose TIC for the initial years and we can readjust in the future. Thank you!! 🌺