my mums house

[ianglyn]

hi all,
my mother bought her council house several years ago.the plans where cause i was married and had an house with my wife,so my mum dicided that the house would be left to him if she died.thing is my younger brother got killed in a motorcycle acciedent.then me and my wife got divorced,so i moved back to my mums.well everbody knows that its your mum that cooks and cleans for you and its cheaper.
anyway my mums boyfriend had him name put onto my mums deeds so she could get help.!!
thing is now he thinks the house is half his,so the reason im asking this question is IF SHE DIES WOULD THE HOUSE BE ALL HIS IF SHE DIED!!

[Buenchico]

There are two ways in which two people can jointly own a house:

If your mother and her boyfriend are 'joint tenants', then it is effectively their 'partnership' (in a business sense) which owns the house (rather than them each owning half of it). If one person dies, the other person is the sole survivor of that partnership and therefore automatically becomes the sole owner of the house. (If the deceased person was to leave a will, apparently giving their 'share' of the house to someone else, that part of the will would not be valid because they never actually owned a 'share' of the house. The other partner would still get the whole house).

If your mother and her boyfriend are 'tenants in common' they both own a share of the house. (The split would normally be '50-50' but it's possible for the deeds to define a different distribution, such as '60-40' or anything else). As such, they are free to leave their share of the house to whoever they like. It could be the surviving partner or it could be Battersea Dogs' Home; it's entirely up to the individual. The surviving partner would, of course, still retain the ownership of their share of the property. (If the deceased person died without leaving a will, their share would be allocated according to the rules of intestacy. Only family members, and not boyfriends or girlfriends, can inherit under those rules)

So the first thing to do is to find out whether the property is owned as a joint tenancy or as a tenancy in common. Anyone can do that, for a fee of �3, by downloading the title register from here:
http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/

Chris

[abstibus]

According to your slightly later post, you are now living in a rented flat with damp and falling-down walls and asbestos and a partner, and taking holidays in Grand Canary. Make your mind up.

[jenniprice]

He's witholding paying rent to his mum, who rings him in gran canarier!

[Velvetee]

I would say if his name is on the deeds, then when your mother dies, the house would pass to him. Your mother would need to write a will, leaving her half to you.

The best thing to do is go and see a solicitor. Most will give you a free half an hour consultation.