Second home ownership

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canarydan

New Member
Hi all,

I've recently found out that my sister and I are listed as owners and proprietors of the family home we grew up in.

My Mum died after an illness back in 2010. Aware the end was possibly looming, she added her own codecile to the joint will she had with my old man. My understanding was that this essentially required the will's trustees approval before the family home could be sold, so Dad couldn't just act independently on issues to do with the house, or indeed sell it, without the approval of the trustee's (of which he is also one).

He has long since moved from the home and lives elsewhere and rents out the family home; however, purely out of curiosity, I was surfing the net and saw the Land Register search and figured I'd buy the title register documents to have a little butchers at what it says.

I was surprised to read that it actually lists my Dad, my sister, me and my Auntie (my Mum's sister and Trustee of the the will) as Owners and Proprietors. So my question is, does this part-ownership actually make me a second home owner? If I sold my own home in which I now live and own with a mortgage, would I be subject to additional property stamp duty? And as a listed co-owner, would I and fellow co-owners have a legal claim over the rental income?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Cheers,

Danny.
 
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Longterminvestor

Administrator
I think in this instance ownership and "rights" over income appear to have been separated. There is a distinct possibility that the trust gives your father control over rental income but the issue of ownership is interesting. I would take legal advice on this asap to clarify your own position and whether you may be liable to additional stamp duty in the event that you sold your own home.

The fact the property is under the control of a trust may help your situation but worth checking with a property legal expert.
 
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canarydan

New Member
I think in this instance ownership and "rights" over income appear to have been separated. There is a distinct possibility that the trust gives your father control over rental income but the issue of ownership is interesting. I would take legal advice on this asap to clarify your own position and whether you may be liable to additional stamp duty in the event that you sold your own home.

The fact the property is under the control of a trust may help your situation but worth checking with a property legal expert.
Cheers. Having thought more about it, my suspicion is that the trust is a separate legal entity, so despite being a trustee of that trust and therefore technically a co-owner, the actually ownership rights belong to the trust (as no individual trustee has the power to act alone in decisions pertaining to the property). So I think I, as an individual, would only be considered the owner of my residential home.
 
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nmb

Well-Known Member
I would check with a lawyer but I tend to agree with your assumption. It is similar in many ways to owning shares in a company listed on the stock market, you are not a co-owner of all of the company's property assets. The company/trust is seen as a legal entity in its own right.
 
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