If you’re cohabiting with a partner and thinking of buying a house together, you might be wondering if a verbal agreement is sufficient to protect both of your rights and interests in the property. After all, you’re a couple, right?
Well, the fact is that when you’re an unmarried and cohabiting family, you’re certainly part of a societal shift that is on the rise. However, the law does not recognise your status in the same way that it does for married couples. The law may well catch up with society in time, but for now, it makes sense to write your arrangements down.
Protecting your Interests
A solicitor can help you to write a declaration of trust that will help you to do exactly this. When you speak to a specialist solicitor at Parachute Law or another law firm, this becomes a quick and simple job that documents the intentions of you and your partner and lets you get on with your lives – whilst providing that vital legal protection.
For example, one of you might have put 75% of the deposit in to buy the house or pay over 50% of the mortgage. There might be an informal understanding in place of how this would affect the proceeds of a house sale if you broke up, but unless that is in writing, there is no legal claim.
Overcoming the Stiff Upper Lip!
In the UK we are still reluctant to talk about money, and it can seem like a harsh conversation with your partner when you plan to be together forever. But the fact is that life circumstances change, and it’s important to protect both of your assets.
A declaration of trust can help to broker this conversation if you haven’t yet had it, or formalise it if you have. And it provides the certainty that everyone needs for a happy, healthy financial future.
If you are cohabiting and unmarried, now is the time to record your wishes with a declaration of trust, thereby avoiding any issues later down the line.
