Sarah Lake, Conveyancing Executive at Spire Solicitors LLP, discusses buying a property jointly with someone else.

When buying a property jointly with someone else, a trust of land is created. It is important to ensure that the property is held in such a way so that on any future sale, or in the event of the death of one of the owners, the sale proceeds are divided as the parties intend. You can own land as beneficial joint tenants or as tenants in common.
Owning as beneficial joint tenants, you are each entitled to half of any equity in the property on a sale. If one of you dies, the property will automatically pass to the surviving joint tenant. It is possible to sever a joint tenancy and make it into an equal tenancy in common by serving a notice on your co-owner.
Owning as tenants in common, you can choose to own the property either equally or in unequal shares. On the death of one of you, the share of the deceased will pass according to their Will or under the intestacy rules. It is therefore very important if you own as tenants in common that Wills are made by both co-owners to deal with their respective shares particularly if either one wanted to leave their share to someone else altogether but give their co-owner the right to continue to live in the property.
People should therefore very carefully consider how they wish to own their property when buying jointly with another person especially when monies have been gifted from another family member or is using more of their own savings to put towards the purchase than the other party. This is especially so if they wish to protect their contributions in the event of a relationship breakdown in the future.
You could ask your Solicitor to prepare a separate Declaration of Trust document to record the amounts you have each paid and to agree that you should receive this amount back on a future sale once the mortgage is repaid or that the equity should be divided in unequal proportions. The Declaration could also record other agreed terms.
Spire Solicitors LLP has an experienced team to guide you through and provide you with advice on the best way to co-own your property, given your circumstances, and to protect your contributions.