Will Writing & Property Trusts
When writing your Will it’s important to know that some assets you have may not pass, under the terms of your Will, on to your beneficiaries. This can include any jointly held property if it is not owned between the parties as Tenants-in-Common.
Property Ownership
Many people don’t realise that you can own property with other people in different ways. Furthermore, the way you own your property can have a significant impact when writing your Will. There are two main ways of owning a property jointly. These are known as Joint Tenants and Tenants-in-Common.
If you own your property with someone as Joint Tenants it means that, upon death, the ownership of the property passes to the remaining owners that are alive and it does not pass under the terms of your Will.
However, if you own your property with someone as Tenants-in-Common, it means that you own a specific share of the property so that, upon death, the share of the property that you own can be included in your Will and go to the beneficiaries you choose.
Changing how you own your property is sometimes required when writing a Will. You may want to leave your share of the property to someone other than the joint owners. There are a number of reasons why you might want to do this this, for example, you may want to leave your share of the property outright to someone else or place the property into a Trust.
Leaving shares of property in a Trust is commonly seen where you want to allow your spouse/partner to live in your share for their lifetime but, upon their death or subsequent re-marriage, the property passes to your children. These types of arrangements are dealt with through Trust Wills.