Tenants in Common

What you’re talking about OP is changing the way in which you own your house so each of you has a defined share (e.g. half) which can be left to someone in a will rather than owning it as joint tenants as I assume you currently do, meaning that the survivor of you automatically inherits the house. You must get the advice of a solicitor as to what is right in your particular circumstances. I’m alarmed at an adviser telling you to ‘change your wills to tenants in common’, which is a nonsense, hence my query as to who this person is. Clearly not a solicitor, which is who you must see for proper advice tailored to your particular situation. My impression from what you say is that your husband may be considering leaving a share in the house to someone other than you or the estranged daughter so as to do his best to disinherit her . However this isn’t taking you and your wishes and security into account. You want to know you can remain in the house with no problems and won’t face an inheritance tax bill. You may also want to move house without a third party’s consent and to leave your home to whoever you wish when you die. As a retired solicitor this is ringing alarm bells with me. Please see a solicitor to ensure you are properly protected. I don’t think you have had much advice at all so far if you need to ask about drawbacks, which there certainly can be.

Does help with regard to Inheritance Tax as only half the value of the house is involved.

My ex-hubbie insisted that we do this when I moved from the family house back in 2003. Even though he never actually lived in or paid anything towards all the improvements I made in this house.

So, when it was sold in 2019, I could only get half the then value towards my new property. He received the other fifty percent as cash.

Yes, it was my fault in not taking legal advice many years earlier. But, at the time, in 2003, we were joint owners of the family house (in which he had not lived for several years), and I had paid off most of the mortgage. However, he was refusing to sign papers for the sale and I panicked and agreed to him getting the Tenants in Common right inthe new house plus fifty percent of the excess between the then sale and purchase.

Consulted a Solicitor many years later and was told that undoubtedly I would be be entitled under law to a much bigger proportion than the fifty percent, BUT it would take ages to go throught the Courts, cost thousands of pounds (and cause so much family upset).

Fortunately, by moving away from London I was able to purchase a lovely flat with just that fifty percent of the sale price - but I still think of the enormous amount of cash that he now has as 'my' money.

I had a momentary panic over this when I started to put my home on the market as my OH had died. I do not understand anything about it nor did I try to as my solicitor rang me back and said all was well and the house was all automatically mine to sell. Phew!!

Tenants in common means you own a share, which you can then leave to whom ever you wish in your will.
Joint tenants have the rules of survivorship so the person remaining after death inherits the deceased’s share.

Did you mean changing the ownership of your home to tenants in common? If so, and as you mention that your other half has a terminal illness, you need to ensure that you still have the right to live in the property after his demise. The usual way of doing this is for the 1/2 share to be left in trust for the remaining spouse as life tenant.

You need proper, paid for advice as this is too important to make a mistake. A good advisor will consider all the possibilities, for example, what if you wanted to downsize in a few years time? A good advisor will also advise you of any drawbacks.

Who is he leaving his share of the house to? Do you have the right to live in it if he dies?

We are tenants in common.

This article might help you to digest in your own time if it’s right for you.

www.legalnature.co.uk/guides/joint-tenancy-or-tenancy-in-common-advantages-and-pitfalls

What sort of adviser is this? Consult a solicitor.