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The Need for a "Deed Trust" is Wider Than Most People Think

Published: 17/06/2025
Written by Curwens Solicitors

A Deed of Trust also known as a Declaration of Trust, is a legally binding document that records a financial agreement between unmarried joint owners of a property, or a third party who has a beneficial interest in the property.

The deed is drawn up at the time that a property is being bought and is there to protect everybody’s investment.

It is a bit like a prenuptial agreement – it keeps the assets of one or both partners’ safe in the case of a break-up or dispute. While it’s often assumed that prenuptial agreements are more for millionaires and celebrities, a Deed of Trust is a valuable tool for a variety of types of people.

When you buy a property, there is a huge amount of money at stake, and with everyone’s situation being different, it pays to have a contract drawn up that not only protects each person’s investment but alleviates the risk of disputes should the relationship come to an end.

the need for a deed of trust is wider than most people think

The most common way to arrange for a pet’s care is by including instructions in your Will. Because pets are legally considered “property” in the UK, they cannot directly inherit money, and any such bequest in a Will, will fail. Nevertheless, pet owners can:

Establishing your interest in a property without a deed can be very costly and time consuming.

Different scenarios when a Deed of Trust can be beneficial:

  1. Buying jointly where parties made an unequal contribution to the purchase
  2. Buying jointly with only one party on the legal title
  3. Protecting an investment in the property
  4. Owning a property where a third party contributed to the purchase
  5. Owning a property to which your new partner moves in
  6. Splitting the mortgage and equity elements of the property
  7. Buying out your partner’s share but where you cannot re mortgage
  8. Buying with unequal contributions to price and mortgage moving forward
  9. Partner moving in but you do not want him/her to own any part of the property

What's the Difference Between Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common?

Joint tenants – “You own the whole property between you.” Ordinarily, when you buy a property, you will be listed as joint tenants, which means that if one of you were to die, the other one will inherit the property outright. – Survivorship rule

Tenants in Common – “You own part of the property each.” If you’d rather see your share of the property go to your family or to a third party, or if you are contributing different sums of money, you can opt to be tenants in common and have a Deed of Trust created to protect your individual shares.

What Can a Deed of Trust Include?

What’s included in a Deed will depend on the client’s individual circumstance.

It can include:

  1. How much each person contributes to the deposit, and how much will be repaid
  2. What percentage of the property each person will own, and how the money will be split should the property be sold
  3. How much each person will pay towards the mortgage, and how the mortgage will be paid off
  4. If a third party, such as a relative, has invested money and is not listed on the title deed but still wants to protect their contribution
  5. If one party is unable or unwilling to buy the other out and wants to officially surrender their interest in the property

So, if you’ve bought a property with a partner, or with financial support from a third party, you might want a Deed of Trust that says if you were to split then you’d both get your deposits back (which might be different amounts) and the equity would be divided equally between you.

deed of trust 2

Pitfalls

The Court will consider a well written deed as an express declaration between the parties and unless one argues the deed was not correctly drawn and executed, or that it didn’t take into account the growth in value, maintenance and mortgage payments, who lives in it etc., or that one party signed the deed under undue influence or that the deed was not honoured in so far as the payment is concerned.

How Does a Deed of Trust Work?

Since Deeds of Trust are so flexible, the client would first need to have a discussion with their solicitor and explain what they want their agreement to cover. The solicitor would then draft a contract for both parties to agree and sign.

Once finalised the property lawyer will organise to register the Deed with the Land Registry. This will ensure the property cannot be sold without both parties’ consent.

Finally, please remember that we can only advise one party, the other party should be advised to seek independent legal advice.

Vijaya Sumputh, is a Partner at Curwens leading a team with over 55 years of experience. Our Family Law Team can provide you with expert legal advice and representation on a wide range of family law matters. They are very familiar with the local court system and will provide you with the best possible legal advice and representation in addition to advising you on the best course of action to take in your circumstances.
Tel: 020 8363 4444

Please note that our briefings are for informational purposes only, and do not constitute legal advice.

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Any data that you submit using this web form will be held by our firm as Data Controller and will be held securely for 12 months before being securely and confidentially destroyed.
Find out more
Your data will not be disclosed to any third parties without your consent or as otherwise allowed by the relevant Data Protection legislation and will only be used for responding to your query (or purposes associated with that purpose).

You have the right to be informed about what data we hold about you along with other rights set out in the legislation. Further information about your rights under the data protection legislation can be found at www.ico.org.uk

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