Trust Registration Service & Jointly Owned Property and Partnership

As explained in our earlier email, due to changes to the rules regarding the trusts which need to be registered under the HMRC Trust Registration Service there are far more circumstances when a registration will be required.

The new rules apply when property is held/registered at Land Registry in one or more persons’ names but not in the name of all the owners. For example, if a property was purchased in one person’s name and then by a deed of trust put into joint names but the Land Registry details were not updated.

For partnerships, if property is held in all the partners names, then an exclusion for co-owners would appear to apply.

If a partnership does not have a formal/written partnership agreement then the exclusion for trusts arising out of legislation may apply, but potentially a trust could have been created by other documents at the time of the purchase of the property.  If a partnership has more than 4 members, then the exclusion for trusts arising out of legislation may apply.

If you do have property which is not registered in all the owners’ names and not covered by the above exclusions, then it may be necessary for the arising trust to be registered on the Trust Registration Service. If that is the case, could you please let us know and confirm that you would like us to complete the registration on your behalf. To complete the registration, we would require the names of the persons the property is registered in and the date the first property was registered under those names. Also details of the persons who have an interest in the property.

The rules apply to circumstances that have been in existence in the period since the 6 October 2020,

We would be grateful if you could let us have the information as soon as possible in order that the 1 September 2022 submission date can be met.

Article written by Mary Plant