Signing my house over.
Author
Discussion

jconsta6

Original Poster:

935 posts

271 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
Just something I was discussing with someone the other day.....

Is it possible to sign your house over entirely to your partner or wife? if you currently have the mortgage solely in your name?

Cheers,

JC

pdV6

16,442 posts

277 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
Yes, but you (she) my have to pay stamp duty for the priviledge! Robbing government b******s!

KentishS2

15,169 posts

250 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
pdV6 said:
Yes, but you (she) my have to pay stamp duty for the priviledge! Robbing government b******s!


Stamp Duty goes to the Queen via the Treasury, been the same for decades!

alexkp

16,484 posts

260 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
KentishS2 said:



Stamp Duty goes to the Queen via the Treasury, been the same for decades!


Pardon? Can you explain this further - do you mean the Queen receives the money?

pdV6

16,442 posts

277 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
KentishS2 said:

Stamp Duty goes to the Queen via the Treasury

You sure about that? Can't find any reference to this fact.

anonymous-user

70 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
pdV6 said:

KentishS2 said:

Stamp Duty goes to the Queen via the Treasury


You sure about that? Can't find any reference to this fact.


I think he means the crown. By which he means the government. Thieving bastards etc...

GreigM

6,739 posts

265 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
jconsta6 said:
Just something I was discussing with someone the other day.....

Is it possible to sign your house over entirely to your partner or wife? if you currently have the mortgage solely in your name?

I don't know about entirely, but you can get their name added to all the documents, so in the case of you snuffing it then there are no problems with the transfer of the house to the surviving spouse - my parents are doing that just now after a friend lost her husband - house was entirely in his name and she had to spend a LOT on lawyers to get the estate settled to her.

Shouldn't involve stamp duty or capital gains doing it this way, then I suppose you could remove one of the names, but you should then speak to a lawyer.

If it is a "partner" who is not a spouse it will be more complicated - stamp duty is not payable as no money is changing hands, but the partner may get assessed for capital gains tax.

pdV6

16,442 posts

277 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
GreigM said:

I don't know about entirely, but you can get their name added to all the documents, so in the case of you snuffing it then there are no problems with the transfer of the house to the surviving spouse

In the absence of a will, all posessions pass to the spouse by right of survivorship automatically, so no need to go to great lengths to arrange this formally...

anonymous-user

70 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
pdV6 said:

GreigM said:

I don't know about entirely, but you can get their name added to all the documents, so in the case of you snuffing it then there are no problems with the transfer of the house to the surviving spouse


In the absence of a will, all posessions pass to the spouse by right of survivorship automatically, so no need to go to great lengths to arrange this formally...


Unless you're planning to go bust.......................

Eric Mc

123,953 posts

281 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
Watch out if you are not married - the law and tax situation relating to married couples can be very unfavourable. Get good legal and tax advice.

Size Nine Elm

5,167 posts

300 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
pdV6 said:

In the absence of a will, all posessions pass to the spouse by right of survivorship automatically, so no need to go to great lengths to arrange this formally...

Absolutely not. In the absence of a will (i.e. intestate), there are strict rules on inheritance, and who gets what. Very often a widow/widower can be left quite badly off while progeny acquire the bulk of the estate. See here.

This is one of the prime reasons for having a will if you are married, even if you're relatively young.

jconsta6

Original Poster:

935 posts

271 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies guys.

This is the thing, we are getting married in June anyway. I'm not that intrested in this stage about who owns the house as such or what would happen in my death, to be honest, I'm more intrested in what would happen if I ever went bankrupt. I'm more than happy to waive any legal right over the house in exchange for it being untouchable should such a thing ever happen.

I've given it a lot of thought and I'm not thinking of going bankrupt! it's just that if life has taught me one thing, it's easier to sort things out when there are no problems rather than trying to afterwards.

Someone else mentioned about cap gains, hmmm, good point, even if I transfered the house for £1, sh'd have cap gains on the full real world value. I suppose thats what I'm trying to find out - can I sign the house over in any way fully to her without technically selling it to her?

Thanks,

JC

MilnerR

8,273 posts

274 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
You don't have to pay capital gains if you sell your home, only if you were to sell a 2nd property. i.e. you made a capital gain.

jconsta6

Original Poster:

935 posts

271 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
MilnerR said:
You don't have to pay capital gains if you sell your home, only if you were to sell a 2nd property. i.e. you made a capital gain.


Yes, but what about her, she will be gaining an entire house free of charge?

Cheers,

JC

jvaughan

6,025 posts

299 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
Ive just gone through this...

Putting the "New" Wife on the morgage and house deeds is gonna cost me almost £200 in Administration and stuff.

Told the Wife if she wants in, then she pays for it herself... Otherwise, leave things alone.

I just changed my Will it was a damn sight cheaper

rev-erend

21,586 posts

300 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
I would seek legal advice if I were you .. it will cost very little.

beano500

20,854 posts

291 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
rev-erend said:
legal advice
and
rev-erend said:
cost very little.
in the same sentence.




I've just woken up in a different universe, haven't I?

rude-boy

22,227 posts

249 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
Okay here goes:-

Married - No Mortgage.

Provided the Transferee(person you are gifting a share of the property to) is paying no consideration (or less than £60k) there is no Stamp Duty Land Tax(SDLT) payable and there is no Capital Gains Tax(CGT) on transfers between Husband and Wife.

Married - Mortgage.

As above save that you will have to obtain the consent of your lender and so you might as well wait until you remortgage next and do it at the same time. It will also cost you less in legal, search and Land Registry fees.

The lender will almost certainly require that the Transferee becomes a party to the mortgage ie is made liable which could be difficult if they have a bad credit rating.

No SDLT if the Total consideration paid by the Transferee is less than £60K. Remember that even if the Transferee is not actually paying you any cold hard cash they are taking responsibility for the mortgage which is a form of consideration! You must therefore consider SDLT if the mortgage is more than £120k as the Inland Revenue will take half the amount of this into consideration.

No CGT payable

Un Married - No Mortgage

Provided that the Transferee is paying nothing or less than £60k no SDLT

There may be a CGT implication for the Transferee check with an accountant

Un Married - Mortgage

As Married with a Mortgage save that CGT advise also required.

Under the Law of England and Wales there are also different was in which you can hold the equity you have in a property. ie change the shares each of you own.

If you hold the property as Joint Tennants the property will automaticly pass to the survior on the death of one of the owners (No SDLT here but there may be an Inheritance Tax situation if total estate is more than £263k and you are not married)

PLEASE NOTE that if the Transferor, person giving away a share in their property, is made bankrupt within 5 years of gifting a share in a property the Traustee in Bankruptcy could disclaim that transaction, pretend it never happened. You can get Indemnity Insurance for this but it will only protect a lender, not the Transferee. if the transfer can be proved to have been made with the intention of attempting to defraud creditors it can also land you in deep do do with bib.

Bottom line :- see a SOLICITOR and possibly an accountant first before you decide what to do.

PS It is Gordon that gets SDLT, as with all tax monies, not Liz who gets paid via the Civil List (which comes out of the pot from all tax collected like the money the NHS, etc, etc gets)

Sorry for the spelling errors if any

I'll get my coat now...

Eric Mc

123,953 posts

281 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
Good reply, rude- boy. All the pertinent facts.

"The Crown" really means "The State". The Queen and/or members of the Royal Family get no income other than what they are emtitled to off the civil list or from other activities/jobs/investments etc although these can be quite substantial.

rev-erend

21,586 posts

300 months

Thursday 6th January 2005
quotequote all
beano500 said:

rev-erend said:
legal advice

and
rev-erend said:
cost very little.

in the same sentence.




I've just woken up in a different universe, haven't I?


I had my solicitor draw me up a pre nuptial - for myself and G/F - no intentions of marriage.

Cost for advice and paperwork was £95.

Compared to the thousands divorce has cost me ..

priceless !