Gifts of Property

A gift is usually where all or part of an interest in a property is to be transferred to someone else without any consideration.

Examples of “consideration” are where the person who is receiving the interest in the property pays a sum of money for that interest, pays by provision of services or goods for an interest in the property, pays off a mortgage or part of a mortgage on the property, or becomes jointly liable for a mortgage on the property.

If there is any consideration whatsoever for the interest in the property, this is not a gift.

Common Examples of Gifts of Property

Some example of the more common gifts are where:

in the case of a couple where one person is the outright owner of a property, the owner may wish to place the property in joint names and the interest that is transferred is a gift;
if a parent wishes to transfer an interest in their property to their children during their lifetime, rather than by their Will, the interest that is transferred is a gift; or
if a person has moved into the property owner’s home to care for them and the property owner wishes to gift an interest in the property to that person for future security.

Matters to Consider Before Making a Gift

Gifts of property have to be considered properly and we would usually discuss with you, amongst other things, the reasoning behind the gift, the security of any ongoing occupation of the property and the effect the gift may have on other matters, for example, assessment for care home fees, state benefit payments, tax affairs, bankruptcy (this list is not intended to be exhaustive and the matters will usually depend upon your personal circumstances).

We would usually also consider how a gift impacts on any existing Will that you have made, either with us or another firm, and whether you will need to make a new Will as a result.

Preparing the Deed of Gift

A gift involves a formal deed being prepared for the property owner to sign to give effect to the transfer. The form of the deed will depend upon the nature of the gift but this usually takes the form of a Transfer Deed or a Declaration of Trust. A Transfer Deed deals with the transfer of the legal ownership of the property and a Declaration of Trust deals with an interest in the proceeds of sale of the property.

Full consideration will be given to the best way forward for you, prior to any action being taken. If the gift involves a transfer of the legal ownership of the property, it will also be necessary to either update the title at the Land Registry if it is a registered title or to deal with First Registration (see our section on First Registration) of the property if it is unregistered.

It may be that the person who is receiving the gift will take their own independent legal advice but, if not, we will liaise directly with them about identification and post completion matters.

When a Gift May Not Be Possible

Please note that it may not always be possible to deal with a gift. For example, if you are appointed as an Attorney for a property owner under the terms of a Lasting Power of Attorney, the law sets out strict circumstances in which gifts can be made by you as an Attorney and we could not act on any gift instructions outside of those circumstances.

Our Fees and Additional Costs

Our fees for this type of matter will usually depend upon the value of the property interest to be transferred, the complexity of the title and the number of beneficiaries of the gift.

Our range for this work is between £500 plus VAT (which on £500 is £100) and £1000 plus VAT (which on £1000 is £200) together with the relevant Land Registry fee payable on registration of the updated ownership.

It may also be necessary to obtain up to date copies of the title at £7 plus VAT of £1.40 and Land Charges searches at £6.00 each plus VAT of £1.20.

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