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Joshua, Lawyer
Category: UK Property Law
Positive Feedback: 99.4 %
Satisfied Customers: 22460
Experience: LL.B (Hons), Prof Dip Law & Practice. 9 years experience in private practice in England
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can i put my house in childrens names

Resolved Question:

can i put my house in childrens names

Submitted: 12 months ago.
Category: UK Property Law
Expert:  Joshua replied 12 months ago.

Thanks for your question. Please RATE my answer when you are satisfied by clicking on 3 STARS *** or ABOVE.

Please kindly only RATE my answer when you are satisfied. If you rate my answer as less than 3 stars this is recorded as negative feedback. If you decide to click less than 3 stars please stop and reply to me first by clicking on REPLY or CONTINUE CONVERSATION. It is important to me that you are satisfied with the service you receive from me.

Could you advise the reason you would like to to this please - is it for the purposes of care fees or inheritance tax, both or none of the above?

Customer: replied 12 months ago.

my husband and myself on in the process of divorce and my husband is scared if he leaves me the house and i meet someone else they will get half..so i was wondering if i could put the house in there names to ensure they will inherit all

Expert:  Joshua replied 12 months ago.

  1. May I ask your and your husband's ages?
  2. Have you agreed how the property will be divided between you (notwithstanding the idea of placing the same in your children's names) or is this in dispute?

Customer: replied 12 months ago.

i am 47 my husband 48 and its in dispute at the moment

Expert:  Joshua replied 12 months ago.

Thanks. I am not a divorce / family solicitor so I would not wish to offer you any advice in respect of your divorce settlement itself however I do specialise in property and tax.

Firstly if there is a mortgage on the property this will preclude even the option without a remortgage as your children would need to remortgage in their own names or pay the mortgage off to even take a transfer of the property.

If the above is not an issue then in principle if you both agree you could do so however I would be very concerned as to whether this would be a good idea from your point of view especially given both of your relatively young ages.

Firstly from a CGT point of view if the house would constitute either now or in the future a second home for your children CGT may be payable on any gain the property makes in value. From inheritance tax point of view if your estate is liable to inheritance tax then if you continue to derive benefit from the house without paying rent then the gift would be disregarded for IHT purposes.

Finally and most practically you would be giving away what would presumably be a major asset. This could be very restrictive to you both in the future depending upon your respective net worth if you have to rely on your children for your future accommodation.

Generally from a tax perspective it is better to try to keep your main property in your own name(s) if possible because it then receives extremely favourable IHT treatment. Obviously without your agreement he cannot do this.

I would assume both of you would be keen to ensure your children benefit on your respective deaths. However if this is not the case there is little either of you can do about it. In the assumption this is what you will both want providing you make new wills after your divorce is finalised you can ensure that your children are provided for. If either of you choose not to do this then this is your respective choice and the other cannot force or impose their will on the other to do so.

Is there anything else I can help you with or clarify above? If you have no further questions for now I should be very grateful if you would kindly remember to RATE my answer with 3 STARS *** or above as appropriate. Your feedback is important to me. If you intend to click less than 3 STARS please reply back to me so I can help with any further questions of clarifications first.

Kind regards

Joshua, Lawyer
Category: UK Property Law
Positive Feedback: 99.4 %
Satisfied Customers: 22460
Experience: LL.B (Hons), Prof Dip Law & Practice. 9 years experience in private practice in England
Joshua and 5 other UK Property Law Specialists are ready to help you

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