Guides

A solicitor usually charges £300 to £720 for a declaration of trust. Online drafting starts at about £180, and a template you complete yourself costs less.

If a parent gives one of you money for the deposit, a declaration of trust can make sure that money comes back to their child, not split 50/50, if you sell.

The best time to sign a declaration of trust is before or on completion day. Here's how it fits with your conveyancer, the TR1 form and your mortgage.

Buying with a friend can get you on the ladder sooner. Agree your shares, the bills and an exit plan in a declaration of trust before you complete.

Buying with a parent or sibling? Decide whose name goes on the title, watch for the Stamp Duty surcharge, and write down everyone's share in a declaration of trust.

If you put in a bigger deposit and don't write it down, you may only get half back. A declaration of trust lets you get your deposit back first.

Joint tenants own the whole home together and the survivor inherits it. Tenants in common own separate shares that can be unequal and pass under a will.

Unmarried couples have no automatic claim on each other's property if they split up. A declaration of trust records who owns what so it's settled in advance.

Paying more of the mortgage doesn't automatically give you a bigger share. Decide in your declaration of trust whether extra payments count, and keep records.

Paying for a new kitchen or an extension doesn't automatically increase your share. Agree it in writing before the work starts, or the money may be lost.

Yes. No law says a solicitor has to write a declaration of trust. It must be in writing and signed, and is normally signed as a deed in front of a witness.

Each owner signs in front of an adult witness who is physically present, then the witness signs and adds their name and address. One witness can do both.

A Form A restriction on your title shows you own as tenants in common. It stops a sole surviving owner selling alone. Adding one is free with form SEV or RX1.

A checklist of what a declaration of trust between two co-owners should cover: shares, deposits, mortgage, costs, moving out, selling, buyouts and death.

Rarely. A properly signed declaration of trust is normally conclusive. Courts only set one aside for fraud, a genuine mistake, pressure, or a later agreement.

You can change a declaration of trust if you both agree, by signing a new deed. Neither owner can change it alone. Here's when it's worth doing and how.

If you're not married and you split up, your home is divided by property law, not fairness. Here's what happens with and without a declaration of trust.

To buy out a co-owner you agree a value, work out their share, take over the mortgage with your lender's agreement, and transfer the title. Stamp Duty may apply.

As joint tenants the survivor gets the whole home. As tenants in common, the dead owner's share passes under their will, and the survivor may share the home with their heirs.

A cohabitation agreement sets out who pays for what and what happens if you split up. Unmarried couples have few legal rights, so it fills the gap.

There's no common law marriage in England and Wales. Here's what unmarried partners are and aren't entitled to if they split up or one of them dies.

A declaration of trust covers who owns your home. A cohabitation agreement covers everything else about living together. Many couples need both.

The TR1 transfer form records how you'll own your home, but not deposits, costs or what happens if you split up. A declaration of trust covers those.