A home is generally the most valuable asset someone will own during his or her lifetime. Often however ownership is shared with another and the nature of how the property is shared will determine what happens to the part of a property an individual owns when they die. Ownership of an individual's interest will either be transferred to the co-owner or will form part of the deceased's estate whereby it can go to a number of different people. See our section on Will Writing.

In some cases a property will be held on trust for someone allowing them the benefit of using a property whilst not actually owning it them self. This of course makes it impossible for them to sell.

Use this section to find out some of the legalities involved in owning a home like the ones described above. Below you will find a summary of the topics covered in this section. If you would like more information, click on the links in the left-hand side of the page.

Under the law of England and Wales there are two types of property ownership. The first is legal ownership and the second is beneficial ownership. A person can be the legal and beneficial owner of a home, or just the beneficial owner of the home.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the two main types of joint ownership are 'joint tenancy' and 'tenancy in common'. The word 'tenancy' simply means ownership for this purpose and does not refer to renting a property even though the term is the same.

In Scotland, joint or common owned assets usually pass under the Will or intestacy rules. But, if the title to the asset says that it is owned in the joint names of 'A & B and the survivor' the asset may pass to the surviving owner under the 'special destination' in the title and not under the Will or intestacy.

If you wish to end a joint tenancy, you cannot just take over the other person's share of the property. You must sever the joint tenancy and become joint tenants in common. Only then can you take up the other tenant's percentage of the property, sell the property, or make any other changes

The term overreaching refers to the process whereby a person who has beneficial ownership (but not legal ownership) loses their right to live in a property when the legal owner has sold it. If you are purchasing a property, this will be important to you or else you could wind up living with a stranger in your newly purchased property.

In some instances it may become necessary for a court to settle disagreements over ownership of a property. It may be, for example, that joint legal owners do not agree that a property should be sold or one joint owner wishes for the other person to move out.