From Lawpack's Unmarried Couples and the Law.
When you decide to buy a property together in England and Wales, make sure that your conveyancing solicitor discusses with you at the outset whether you should own the property as 'joint tenants' or 'tenants in common'. The distinction is extremely important.
Joint tenants
If you own the property as joint tenants, this means that you will each have an equal interest in the property and if one of you dies before the other, the share of the person who has died will pass automatically to the other (under the principle known as 'the right of survivorship') and not according to the deceased's Will (whatever it may say) or the law that applies to those who die without a Will (called 'the law of intestacy').
Tenants in common
If you own a property as tenants in common, you don't necessarily have equal shares. You may think this is appropriate if you have made unequal contributions towards the purchase price and want this to be reflected on the sale of the property. Owning as a tenant in common also means that your shares are separate from each other, which means that if one of you dies before the other, the share of the person who has died doesn't pass automatically to the other, but instead passes according to the wishes of the deceased’s Will or the law of intestacy as appropriate.
If you intend to hold the property as tenants in common, you should discuss with your conveyancer whether you should enter into a trust deed. He can draft one for you. This is a binding agreement regarding your property, valid in England and Wales, which means that you can regulate what will happen to the property in the event that you separate (e.g. on what terms one of you can be bought out).
The law in Scotland
In Scotland, the concepts of 'joint tenants' and 'tenants in common' don't apply, although the law is similar. A property can be held in joint names by stating in the title deed (using a survivorship clause) that each of you will leave the property to the other if one of you dies. As with 'joint tenants' in England and Wales, if the title deed includes this clause and one of you dies, the deceased's share will pass to the other under this 'survivorship destination' in the title deed and not according to the deceased's Will or the law of intestacy.
The survivorship clause is, in effect, a contract between you and you cannot revoke it unless you both agree. However, you can do so if there is a clause in the title deed which allows one of you to do this without the other's consent. It is therefore important to discuss the matter with each other and make it quite clear to a solicitor what type of survivorship clause you want.
Alternatively, the property can be held in joint names without a survivorship clause in the title deed (similar to 'tenants in common' in England and Wales). You don't have to have equal shares and if one of you dies, the deceased's share doesn't automatically pass to the other as survivor but passes according to the wishes of the deceased's Will or the law of intestacy if there isn't a Will.
Law stated as at 1 September, 2006