With the price of property soaring, couples, friends and business partners often decide to buy a property jointly. Be warned though that co-ownership is (not without reason) somewhat infamous, as reflected in the Roman law maxim, communio est mater rixarum (co-ownership is the mother of all disputes), often quoted in case law dealing with the termination of joint ownership.
While initially co-ownership tends to be simple while the parties’ relationships thrive, things become very complicated once relations sour. Problems may be avoided or minimised if all parties enter into a prior written agreement, stipulating how they intend to deal with various situations that may arise. It would be prudent for each party to take independent legal advice to ensure that the agreement is fair.
When considering co-ownership of property, contact a property law specialists at STBB before putting pen to paper.
