Benefits of owning property as an individual or a couple

Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 7:38pm

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Hi all,

My husband and I are in the process of buying a holiday property in Costa Blanca. I am English, my husband is Spanish and we are both resident in England.

Does anybody know what would be a wiser move - for my Spanish (but English resident) husband to own the property in his name only, or for us to jointly own as a married couple?

Aside from the obvious problems single ownership would bring in the event of separation or bereavement, is there anything else to consider?

Thank you for reading!

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Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 4:42am

jimtaylor

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Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 4:42am

Joint ownership would effectively reduce any inheritance tax liability when one of a couple dies.

It should also give some protection in case a marriage breaks down, or if one of a couple goes doolally and decides to donate their estate to someone other than their spouse.

Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 8:05am

Elma

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Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 8:05am

Thank Jim, that’s very useful.

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Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 8:54am

jimtaylor

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Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 8:54am

On a similar theme, it's also worth considering making wills on he basis of usufruct.

To give an example of the way this works, a couple could make a will on the basis that the inheritor has lifetime use of the assets left by the deceased, after which the estate passes to whoever is named in the will as the inheritor.

This prevents the possibility of the survivor of a couple changing their will to benefit someone who the deceased would not have wished to benefit. In effect, usufruct makes absolutely certain that a deceased person's wishes will be carried out.