Declaration of Trust – Requirement To Appoint A Solicitor?

Declaration of Trust – Requirement To Appoint A Solicitor?

9:13 AM, 7th August 2017, About 7 years ago 1

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I am looking into Declarationa of Trust (splitting the beneficial interest) and HMRC form 17.

Does the declaration have to be drawn up by a solicitor?

In my case, property ownership is joint and would remain joint so no need to change Land Registry.

If the beneficial interest is unequally spilt, surely this is just an agreement (declaration of trust) between both parties and no requirement to involve a solicitor?

I’m probably missing a vital piece of information and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Matthew


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Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

9:21 AM, 7th August 2017, About 7 years ago

Hi Matt

Yes I think you are missing several vital pieces of information.

The transaction you have described would also require you to sever the joint tenancy at HM Land Registry and re-record the ownership as Tenants in Common. This doesn't affect the mortgage contract you have but does have other imlications.

If you make a mistake and use the wrong Declaration of Trust wording (there are thousands!) then the whole exercise could prove to be more trouble than it is worth.

Then there is SDLT to consider. If the Declaration of Trust transfers more than £40,000 of mortgage responsibility to your spouse, even though you remain jointly and severally liable to your mortgage provider, then you would also trigger SDLT.

I recommend you to appoint Mark Smith at Cotswold Barristers to do this work for you. He charges a flat fee of £250 + VAT. I have added a link to his Property118 Member Profile page and contact form below.

https://www.property118.com/member/?id=1945

Also see the "Related articles" links to the top right of this page, particularly to those relating to the formation of a property partnership as this will give you maximum flexibility and solve the SDLT problem for you.

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