Sarah Bradford explains how the way in which joint property is owned can affect the tax outcome.
Under English property law, there are two ways in which property can be owned jointly – as joint tenants or tenants-in-common. The way in which jointly held property is owned has tax implications. It will also determine what happens when one of the co-owners dies.
Joint tenants
Where a property is owned as joint tenants, the owners together own all the property equally; together they own the whole rather than each owning a specified share. All joint owners will have their names on the deeds, but if one of the co-owners dies ownership passes to the other joint owners. The deeds are changed to the names of the surviving co-owner or owners once a death certificate has been provided to the Land Registry.
Spouses and civil partners generally opt to own property
