One of the first steps in determining whether you may have a claim against property is to consider whether you own the property in question jointly with your cohabitant or former cohabitant, or if the property is solely owned by just your cohabitant or former cohabitant. The ownership of a property and the way in which it is owned is often dealt with at the time the property is purchased, or in some cases by a subsequent legal transfer of the property. Joint owners may own a property as either: - joint tenants, or - tenants in common If you own the property as joint tenants, you and your joint owner have separate rights and interests, but in relation to third parties you have the characteristics of a single owner. Under a joint tenancy the interest of one joint tenant will pass automatically to the surviving joint tenant on death. In this context the use of the word 'tenants' does not refer to a rented property but rather how a property may be owned. If you own the property as tenants in common, you and your joint owner will hold your interests in distinct shares. The main difference between a joint tenant and a tenant in common is that a tenant in common can dispose of their interest in the property either on death or during their lifetime without affecting the interests of the other co-owners as they have a distinct share in the property. Disputes regarding interests in property often arise where a property is solely owned by one cohabitant or former cohabitant. If the cohabitant who owns the property in their sole name has made an express written declaration of trust declaring that they hold the property for themselves and their cohabitant, setting out their respective shares, this is called an express trust. If there is no express trust and you wish to claim a beneficial interest (because you are not a joint legal owner of the property), you must establish one of the following: - that you contributed in money or money's worth to the purchase of the property, and that there was a common intention to hold the beneficial interest in the property in proportion to your contributions (known as a resulting trust) - that you can show that there was a common intention that you should have a beneficial interest in the property and that you have acted to your detriment on this basis (known as a constructive trust) -that the legal owner has led you, either by their words or their conduct, to believe that you have a beneficial interest in the property and as a consequence you have acted to your detriment, making it unreasonable for the legal owner to insist that they have total beneficial ownership of the property (known as proprietary estoppel) It can be challenging to establish an interest in a property where it is solely owned by your cohabitant or former cohabitant and there is no written express trust. You will need to discuss this in detail with us and provide us with as much information and, where applicable, documentary evidence as possible.