The get-out clause To plan for someone selling their share, you should set out details of an exit plan in the declaration of trust.
"As Hanna was putting down a greater share of the deposit – as she had an inheritance – we decided to buy the property as 'tenants in common with unequal shares'," says Hartley. "We got this documented in a declaration of trust.
Kirstie Law, a partner at Thomson Snell and Passmore, warned cohabitants to "regularly review the shares in which they own the property and update any declaration of trust if appropriate".
If you are not putting in the same amount towards the deposit, mortgage and other expenses, it's important to get everything documented in a formal declaration of trust.
This is why long-term partners should arrange either a cohabitation agreement or declaration of trust, laying out who owns what and how these will be distributed on separation".
If you own your home as "tenants-in-common" you can leave a precise share to whoever you choose – you state the exact nature of your share in a declaration of trust.
"There are issues of trust and the possibility of disputes down the line so the key is to discuss, list and draw up a legal declaration of trust covering every single possible eventuality, including how any future profits are divided," Mr Curran says.
It had been stated by one of the counsel who were concerned in that case, that the Lord Chancellor was of opinion, that the power of attorney, which was executed by the trustees to the solicitor of the second purchaser, was equivalent to a declaration of trust in his favour.
The decree is evidently based, so far as Charles W. Colehour is concerned, upon the deed to him by William H. Colehour, executed in 1879, although the respective interests of the parties were established with reference to the declaration of trust made in October, 1873.
