Skip to content
Home » News » Property Protection: How to Help Keep Your Home in the Family

Property Protection: How to Help Keep Your Home in the Family

Couple reviewing estate-planning documents to protect their family home and their children's inheritance.

For many families, the family home is one of their most valuable assets. It represents years of hard work, memories and security for the people you love. Naturally, you may want to make sure your share of the property eventually passes to the people you choose.

However, the way you own your home and the arrangements in your Will can affect what happens to your share after you die.

If you are married or in a civil partnership and want to protect your share of the family home for your children or other chosen beneficiaries, it is worth understanding how a Protective Will Trust may help.

Why Protecting Your Share of the Family Home Matters

Many couples leave everything to each other in their Wills. Although this can provide financial security for the surviving partner, it may not guarantee that both partners’ wishes will be followed in the long term.

For example, if you leave your share of the home outright to your partner, they generally become free to decide what happens to that asset as part of their own estate. They may later change their Will, remarry or make other decisions that affect who eventually inherits the property.

This can lead to a situation sometimes known as sideways disinheritance, where children from an earlier relationship do not receive the inheritance their parent intended for them.

A carefully drafted Will can help address this concern by setting out what happens to your share of the property after your death.

How Does a Protective Will Trust Work?

A Protective Will Trust, often structured as a life interest trust, can allow you to leave your share of the family home to a trust while giving your surviving partner the right to continue living in the property for the rest of their life, subject to the trust’s terms.

This arrangement can help balance two important priorities: providing security for your partner and preserving your share of the property for your chosen beneficiaries.

Changing How You Own Your Property

If you currently own your home as joint tenants, your share will generally pass automatically to the surviving owner when you die, regardless of what your Will says about that property.

To use a Protective Will Trust for your share, couples will usually need to change their ownership from joint tenants to tenants in common.

Under a tenants-in-common arrangement, each person owns a distinct share of the property. This allows each owner to leave their share according to the terms of their Will, rather than having it automatically pass to the surviving owner through the right of survivorship.

The change is known as a severance of joint tenancy. The appropriate legal documents and Land Registry requirements must be completed correctly.

Keeping Your Partner Secure in the Home

A Protective Will Trust can be designed to give your surviving partner a right to occupy the property for the remainder of their life.

Depending on the terms of the trust, this may also allow them to move to another suitable property, with the trust arrangement continuing in relation to the replacement home.

This can be particularly important for couples who want to protect their children’s future inheritance without leaving their surviving partner facing unnecessary uncertainty about where they will live.

Preserving Your Share for Your Chosen Beneficiaries

Because your share is held under the trust arrangements rather than passing outright to your partner, it can be preserved for the beneficiaries named in your Will.

For example, you may want your share of the property eventually to pass to your children, while your partner retains the right to live in the home during their lifetime.

A properly drafted trust can help establish this arrangement and reduce the risk of your share passing to unintended beneficiaries. The exact protection depends on the trust terms, the property ownership and the circumstances involved.

What Happens if Your Partner Needs Care?

Care fees are an important consideration for many homeowners, particularly those who want to preserve an inheritance for their children.

A Protective Will Trust may affect how the deceased partner’s share of a property is treated after their death. However, it should not be viewed as a guaranteed way to avoid care fees.

Local authorities assess care funding according to the applicable rules and the individual’s circumstances. The treatment of a property interest held in a trust can be complex, and the outcome may depend on the nature of the interest, the trust provisions and the relevant assessment rules.

A trust established for legitimate estate-planning purposes may have a different effect from arrangements intended to deliberately deprive someone of assets to avoid care charges.

If care-fee planning is a major concern, it is important to obtain appropriate advice before making changes to property ownership or your Will. You should understand both the potential benefits and the limitations of any proposed arrangement.

What a Protective Will Trust Does Not Do

Although a Protective Will Trust can be useful, it is important to understand what it cannot guarantee.

It does not automatically reduce inheritance tax. The inheritance tax position depends on your circumstances, including how the trust is structured, the value of your estate and any available exemptions or reliefs. The spouse or civil partner exemption and residence nil-rate band may be relevant, but their application should be assessed individually.

It does not prevent every possible legal claim. Certain individuals may be able to bring a claim against an estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, where the legal requirements are met. A trust should not be assumed to remove this possibility.

It is not a lifetime transfer of your home. A Protective Will Trust generally takes effect on death under the terms of the Will. The arrangements made during your lifetime, including how the property is owned, remain important.

It does not guarantee protection against every financial risk. The outcome will depend on the circumstances, the legal structure and the rules that apply when an assessment or claim takes place.

Understanding these limitations is an essential part of deciding whether this type of trust is suitable for your family.

Is a Protective Will Trust Right for You?

A Protective Will Trust may be worth exploring if you want to provide security for your surviving partner while helping to preserve your share of the family home for your children or other chosen beneficiaries.

It may be particularly relevant if you have children from an earlier relationship, are concerned about future changes in family circumstances or want greater control over how your share of the property is eventually inherited.

However, every family is different. Your property ownership, existing Will, financial position and long-term wishes should all be considered before choosing a suitable arrangement.

Protect Your Family's Future with Viva Planning

Your home may represent a lifetime of hard work, so it makes sense to consider what should happen to it when you are no longer here.

Viva Planning can help you explore property protection and estate-planning options, understand the role of Protective Will Trusts and identify the questions you should ask before making a decision.

Planning ahead can help you provide greater certainty for your surviving partner while making your wishes for the next generation clear.

The most suitable approach will depend on your circumstances, so it is important to understand the legal and tax implications before putting any arrangements in place.