Thinking of 'gifting' 1/8 of house to children

Hi folks

I am currently going through a very amicable divorce.
Thankfully I have the financial resources to buy a small second home
The ex will remain in the family home with the 2 college going children
Myself and the ex will go as Joint Tenants on the family home
There is a mortgage remaining of 42k - which will be paid in the next 6 years

In order for the family home to be kept 'secure' and to protect their inheritance - i am considering putting their name on the deeds
I understand they would have to pay stamp duty - is there any other factor to consider ??

Edenbridge146 said:

In order for the family home to be kept 'secure' and to protect their inheritance - i am considering putting their name on the deeds

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What do you mean by "kept 'secure'" and how does putting it in their names help?

ClubMan said:

What do you mean by "kept 'secure'" and how does putting it in their names help?

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Basically - if my ex marries again - and their spouse outlives them - the house would go to their new spouse - my thinking is if the house has the kids names on the deeds as joint tenants - then its a way of protecting the childrens inheritance

This makes no sense.
You will be using up their First Time Buyer Status
I don't know where the 1/8th is coming from but you will have at least 4 owners which is a recipe for disaster.

What have you actually agreed with your husband?
That you retain joint ownership of the family home it seems.
Has he a right of residence ?
He won't be able to sell it or transfer it without your agreement if you are on the deeds.
If you are on the deeds, adding your children adds no security.

If part of the settlement is to give him the family home, then do so.

Your children are adults too.

Brendan

When you say joint tenants do you mean joint owner? Big difference.

Have you discussed this with your solicitor?

Have you agreed it with your husband?

Brendan Burgess said:

You will be using up their First Time Buyer Status

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Is that actually the case? (Emphasis is mine).

7. What is the definition of a first-time buyer (FTB)?

A first time buyer is defined as a borrower to whom no housing loan has ever before been advanced.

Where the borrower under a housing loan is more than one person and one or more of those persons has previously been advanced a housing loan, none of those persons is a first-time buyer.

This definition of FTB is aligned to the Revenue definition. The flexibility given by the proportionate limits is in place to allow lenders to make decisions based on an individual borrower’s circumstances up to a specific limit.

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Or are there contexts other than mortgage borrowing and tax on which first time buyer is defined as someone who never owned a property at all before?

Brendan Burgess said:

This makes no sense.
You will be using up their First Time Buyer Status
I don't know where the 1/8th is coming from but you will have at least 4 owners which is a recipe for disaster.

What have you actually agreed with your husband?
That you retain joint ownership of the family home it seems.
Has he a right of residence ?
He won't be able to sell it or transfer it without your agreement if you are on the deeds.
If you are on the deeds, adding your children adds no security.

If part of the settlement is to give him the family home, then do so.

Your children are adults too.

Brendan

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Hi Brendan - i never mentioned 'husband' ........

But i had a horrendous high court battle this year as my mother 'gave' our family home to an absolute randomer in her will - a person she met 2 years before she died - and took full advantage of her sick vulnerable status (Stage 4 lung cancer) as this randomer was given half the family home. That day in court cost €200k, between 4 legal teams - a matter that could have been sorted with correct will planning.

I don't want my kids to have the same torture - not much hope if my name is on the deeds to stop my ex selling if i am dead. Its the 'family home'. The youngest has aspergers and doesn't handle 'change' so trying to minimise disruption if ya get me

I don't claim to be any kind of expert in any of this and just posting looking for advice - and trying to ensure the kids get their share

What about these questions?

Brendan Burgess said:

What have you actually agreed with your husband?
That you retain joint ownership of the family home it seems.
Has he a right of residence ?
He won't be able to sell it or transfer it without your agreement if you are on the deeds.
If you are on the deeds, adding your children adds no security.

If part of the settlement is to give him the family home, then do so.

Click to expand...

Brendan Burgess said:

Have you discussed this with your solicitor?

Have you agreed it with your husband?

Click to expand...

Edenbridge146 said:

I don't want my kids to have the same torture - not much hope if my name is on the deeds to stop my ex selling if i am dead. Its the 'family home'. The youngest has aspergers and doesn't handle 'change' so trying to minimise disruption if ya get me

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You said the family home will be held as joint tenants with your ex. This means they will own it 100% if you predecease them, and you will own 100% if they predecease you.

It also means you can't give any share to your kids or anyone else without their consent or a court order.

I'd say talk to the kids first and see if they want to be on the title of the house. If they do, talk to your ex about making this happen. Ideally it would happen by agreement. There's a number of different ways they could own it including joint tenancy or tenancy in common (shares). The differences are important to understand.

As you're getting a divorce anyway, this arrangement (however it ends up) should be included in the decree of dissolution.

What I would avoid doing is trying to micromanage your exes affairs, or those of your kids. However well meant, it'd be unlikely to go well.

In general though, i can't see any harm in the adult kids going on the title. It gives them security if nothing else.

Edenbridge146 said:

i never mentioned 'husband' ........

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You did:

ClubMan said:

Is that actually the case? (Emphasis is mine).

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You are referring to the rules today.
You are referring to the Central Bank rules.

The rules could be different when these two kids go to buy a house.
And the definitions for whatever government schemes operate at that time are unlikely to be "has never had a mortgage before".

It's a stupid idea to put kids' names on a house deed.

I understand what the OP is trying to do, but he/she should talk to their solicitor about how best to achieve it.

In my view, their priority should be to sort out their own relationship with their husband first.

Brendan

Can’t you agree with your ex that the kids remain as heirs even your ex remarries or is in a new relationship? Or there is a timeframe set out so a new widow has a few years to sort out something or maybe they get a share.

When FIL was planning to remarry (at 75) a solicitor drew up an agreement stipulating that the kids from his first marriage were his heirs and new wife would have right to live there for life but no more. Now she was 80 ish and the adult kids were happy with that. Your kids are adults so can understand the arrangements.

Of course if your ex is with a 25 year old that might not be ideal… hence why a solicitor is needed. Maybe names on the deeds is way to go. It just seems like there’s potentially a new widow and 2 kids in a stand off. Each has a say in what happens but if they can’t agree what happens?

But if the divorce is amicable this should be easily sorted,

Forget trying to control someone else & what happens after you're dead.

Write your own will and leave your property as you see fit.

Having your name on the "family home" may well impact your ability to obtain a mortgage. It would also mean that you won't be able to avail of first time buyers schemes.

Can your ex husband buy you out of the property altogether so that you are each making clean break?

To me, adding the names of multiple people onto deeds may certainly overcomplicated things unnecessarily in the future.

Like what happens down the road if one of them want to sell and the other doesn't?

You mentioned that it's a 6 bed house I think in that other post, and separate granny flatThat's s a lot of responsibility for someone. Are you envisioning both of your adult children living there well into the future even after your ex passes away ?

Might it be an option to sell up, and ring fence sone of the money for your adult children?