If you’re adding or removing someone from property deeds due to divorce, separation, or as a gift, a transfer of equity is required. This process involves changing ownership details on the deeds.
Our Residential Conveyancing team will guide you through each step, ensuring a smooth and legally sound transfer.
What is transfer of equity?
Transfer of equity is where you change the legal ownership of a property, i.e., the transfer of a share in the property. This could be as a result of adding someone onto the deeds of a property or removing someone.
In most cases a transfer of equity occurs as part of a divorce or separation settlement. It can also be used when a parent wishes to make a gift to their children, e.g. by adding their child or childrens name to the property.
Types of transfer of equity
The most common types of transfer include:
- Divorce or separation – usually where one party buys the other parties share in the property.
- As part of inheritance tax planning, for example a parent may wish to transfer the property or part of the property to their child or children in order to reduce the burden of tax on death.
- If you own a property jointly with another person, you may wish to change the proportions of ownership or even buy the other party’s share.
- On marriage, e.g., if one spouse already owned a property before the marriage and wants to add the other spouse on to the deeds of the house.
- Re-mortgage purposes, for example if the owner had a poor credit rating, by adding another person who has a good credit rating on to the property, this will increase the chances of a re-mortgage.
What is involved in a transfer of equity?
The standard steps involved in a transfer of equity transaction are:
- Reviewing the title register and title plan to the property.
- Where there is a mortgage, reviewing any mortgage offer and complying with the lender’s requirements, as appropriate.
- Reviewing and complying with any court orders, as appropriate.
- Preparing the Transfer documents.
- Submitting any Stamp Duty Land Tax Return, as appropriate.
- Submitting the application for registration to the Land Registry.
Conveyancers do not tend to review the full set of deeds as a matter of course, but can at the request of the client. There may be a small additional fee for this, which your conveyancer will advice you of, should you wish for this task to be carried out.
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