Joint Property After Death: Tenants in Common vs Joint Tenants

If you own property with someone else (a partner, relative or friend), the way you hold it in law decides what happens to it when one of you dies.

There are two different types of joint ownership in England and Wales. Getting this wrong can send your share to the wrong person, create a tax bill or undo your estate plan.

The Two Types of Joint Ownership

Why It Matters for Your Will

If you own your home as joint tenants, your will has no effect on it. Your share passes to the surviving joint tenant whatever the will says.

That matters in several common situations:

• Second marriages: you may want your share to go eventually to your children from a previous relationship, not to your new spouse's children
• Care home fee planning: if your share passes into a trust rather than to your spouse outright, it may be left out of a later means test
• Inheritance tax planning: tenants in common allows more options, especially for a larger estate
• Business partners: if you co-own property with a business partner, you probably want your share to go to your family, not to them
• Unequal contributions: if one of you paid more, tenants in common lets you hold unequal shares (60/40, for example)

When to Switch to Tenants in Common

Changing from joint tenants to tenants in common is called 'severing the joint tenancy'. It is a simple legal step. It does not affect your mortgage, who lives in the property or how it is used.

Consider severing if:

• You want a trust will to protect your share of the property
• You have children from a previous relationship
• You are planning for possible care home costs
• You want to leave your share to someone other than the co-owner
• You co-own with a friend, sibling or business partner
• You want unequal shares to reflect what each of you paid

Joint Property and Care Home Fees

One of the most common reasons to switch to tenants in common is to protect a share of the family home from care fees. This is how it works:

If you own as joint tenants and one of you dies, the survivor owns the whole property. If the survivor later needs care, the full value of the property is counted in the means test.

If you own as tenants in common and your will puts your share into a life interest trust, the first partner's share goes into the trust on their death. The survivor can carry on living there, but that share is held by the trust. If the survivor later needs care, only their own share is assessed.

Property Planning in Bridlington and East Yorkshire

Property is usually the most valuable asset in an estate. For homeowners in Bridlington, Driffield, Scarborough and across East Yorkshire, knowing how you own your home is the foundation of good estate planning.

Aaron regularly helps couples and co-owners switch to tenants in common as part of their will and trust planning. It is a small change that can make a large difference to what happens after your death.