Declaration of trust explained: what it is, and how it differs from a couples agreement

What is a declaration of trust?

A declaration of trust is a signed document that records who owns what share of a home’s value. If you’re buying together and one of you is putting in more, it’s how that difference gets written into the ownership of the home itself. It is often called a deed of trust, and GOV.UK calls it a trust deed. All three names mean the same thing here. This guide explains it in plain English for England and Wales.

It helps to know that there are two kinds of ownership of a home:

• The legal title is who is named at HM Land Registry. Those people can sell or mortgage the home.
• The beneficial ownership is who is entitled to the money the home is worth. This is what a declaration of trust is about.

Usually these line up. But if you’re named as owners together, the register says nothing about your shares. HM Land Registry’s own guidance says the register records the legal title, not the beneficial interests, and that references to trusts are kept off the register as far as possible. So your shares have to be written down somewhere else, and that somewhere is a declaration of trust.

A declaration can record your shares in any of these ways:

• Equal shares: 50/50, whatever you each paid in.
• Fixed shares: for example 80/20 or 65/35.
• A formula: for example, each of you gets your deposit back first and the rest is split equally.

It also works when only one of you is on the title. The owner can sign a declaration that they hold the home for both of you, in shares you agree. Our guide for when your partner owns the house and you’re not on the deeds covers that case.

Is a deed of trust the same thing, and does it have to be a deed?

Yes, it’s the same thing, and no, it doesn’t have to be a deed.

The rule comes from section 53(1)(b) of the Law of Property Act 1925: a declaration of trust over land must be shown by writing signed by someone able to declare the trust. That means signed writing. It doesn’t say it has to be a deed, and it doesn’t need a solicitor’s stamp.

A deed is a more formal way of signing a document. It must make clear on its face that it is a deed, and each signature must be made in front of a witness who signs too. You can make a declaration of trust as a deed if you want the extra formality, and many people call it a deed of trust either way. But the legal test is signed writing.

Once it’s signed, it carries real weight. In Stack v Dowden (2007), Baroness Hale said that no one now doubts an express declaration of trust is conclusive unless it is varied by a later agreement or affected by proprietary estoppel (a promise someone relied on to their cost). In Pankhania v Chandegra (2012), the Court of Appeal applied that to a transfer form that said “tenants in common in equal shares”. It held the two owners, an aunt and her nephew, to equal shares, and said a declaration like that can only be set aside for reasons such as fraud, mistake or undue influence.

That’s good news if it says what you both meant. It also means you should both read it carefully before you sign, because it’s hard to undo.

How do you make one: TR1 panel 10, Form JO or a separate deed?

There are three routes, and your conveyancer will usually handle them as part of the purchase.

1. Panel 10 of the transfer form (TR1). The TR1 moves the home into your names. Panel 10 is headed “Declaration of trust” and gives three options: joint tenants, tenants in common in equal shares, or on trust on terms you write in. Filling it in is a declaration of trust.
2. Form JO. HM Land Registry’s voluntary form for joint owners to declare their trust when they buy, instead of using the transfer. Each of you signs it, or your conveyancer does.
3. A separate trust deed. A standalone document you both sign. HM Land Registry’s guidance suggests this when the terms are complex or you want them to stay private, and the third box in panel 10 can simply refer to it.

The privacy point matters more than most guides say. HM Land Registry keeps a copy of the transfer, and anyone can apply for an official copy of documents it has received after 13 October 2003, unless they have been made exempt. So shares written into panel 10 are not private. A separate trust deed does not need to be sent to HM Land Registry at all. That also means nobody else keeps it for you, so store the signed original somewhere safe and give each other a copy.

Question	TR1 panel 10	Separate deed
When	At purchase	Any time
Best for	Simple shares	Formulas, private terms
Land Registry copy	Yes, others can order it	Not needed

Whichever route you use, if you own as tenants in common HM Land Registry adds a standard note to your title called a Form A restriction. It shows there’s a trust. It doesn’t show your shares.

Also watch the wording. “Tenants in common in equal shares” sounds like protection for a bigger deposit, but it fixes your shares at 50/50, and Pankhania v Chandegra shows how firmly that sticks. If one of you put in more and you both want that reflected, use the third option or a separate deed. Our guide to joint tenants or tenants in common explains the choice in more detail.

How is a declaration of trust different from a couples agreement?

A declaration of trust deals with who owns the home’s value. A couples agreement, sometimes called a house buying agreement or a cohabitation agreement, deals with everything around it: who pays what, what happens with improvements, and what happens if you split. Citizens Advice says that if you make a living together agreement, you should also make a declaration of trust about how you share your property. They work as a pair.

Question	Declaration of trust	Couples agreement
What it's about	Your shares in the home	Your money and the home together
Bills and the mortgage	Only if written in	Yes
Savings, car, contents	No, it covers the home	Yes
Improvements	Only if written in	Yes
Who stays and buy-outs	Only if written in	Yes
Legal rule	Signed writing	Ordinary rules of contract
How courts treat it	Conclusive about shares	Can take it into account

On the last row: the Law Commission says couples agreements are governed by the ordinary rules of contract. Advicenow says courts will usually follow one if it is fair and you were both honest about your money, and are even more likely to if you each had independent legal advice. Read whether a couples agreement counts for the detail, and how your agreement counts for the steps in order.

The two should say the same thing about your shares. If your declaration says one split and your agreement says another, you could end up arguing about which one counts. So decide together first, then make sure both documents match.

CoHabit’s written agreement isn’t available yet. It is designed as a couples agreement, not a declaration of trust, and it will tell you to ask your conveyancer for one when you buy.

What can’t a declaration of trust do?

A declaration of trust is short and powerful, but it does one job. It doesn’t:

• Cover savings or other things you own. The declaration you make when you buy is about the home. Your joint account, the car, the sofa and your savings are outside it.
• Change the mortgage. If you’re both named on the mortgage, you’re both responsible for the payments, whatever your shares are.
• Say what happens day to day. Bills, who pays more of the mortgage, what happens if one of you earns less for a while, or whether a new kitchen changes your shares are not in it unless you write them in.
• Work out a split-up for you. It says who gets what share of the money. It doesn’t say who stays, how long a sale can take, or how one of you can buy the other out, unless you write that in.
• Act as a will. It records shares while you’re both alive. If you’re tenants in common, your share passes under your will, and an unmarried partner does not inherit automatically without one.
• Change itself. If your lives change, it stays as written until you both agree something new.

Those gaps are what a couples agreement fills. That’s why it’s common to have both.

How much would each of you get? A worked example

Alex and Jordan are not married. They buy a £300,000 home in joint names. Alex puts in a £40,000 deposit and Jordan £10,000, with a £250,000 joint mortgage. They both want each of their deposits back first and everything else shared equally, so their conveyancer records that in a separate declaration of trust and refers to it in panel 10.

A few years later they split up and sell for £330,000, with £230,000 of the mortgage still owed. That leaves £100,000.

Here’s how the declaration works it out:

Step	Alex	Jordan
Deposits back first	£40,000	£10,000
The rest, £50,000, split equally	£25,000	£25,000
Total	£65,000	£35,000

And here’s how that compares with other things they could have written:

What the paperwork said	Alex gets	Jordan gets
Joint tenants, or tenants in common in equal shares	£50,000	£50,000
Declaration: deposits back first, rest equal	£65,000	£35,000
Declaration: fixed shares of 80/20	£80,000	£20,000

Illustration only. Ignores selling costs, tax and who paid what towards the mortgage.

The gap between the first two rows is £15,000. With the declaration, neither of them has to argue about it: both know the answer. Without one, joint names start from equal shares, and Alex would have to prove they meant something different. “Deposits back first” is also fair to Jordan. Jordan gets their full £10,000 back and half of everything above the deposits, rather than only 20% of it.

A good declaration also says what happens if there’s less money than they put in. Say they sell after two years with only £40,000 left. Deposits back first can’t repay £50,000. One simple rule is to share what’s left in proportion to the deposits: £32,000 to Alex and £8,000 to Jordan. Put that rule in writing too.

What the declaration doesn’t say is who pays the mortgage each month, what happens if Jordan pays for a new bathroom, or who stays while the home is sold. That’s the couples agreement’s job. Try your own numbers in the deposit split calculator, and read our guide to an unequal deposit when buying a house together.

Can you change a declaration of trust later?

Yes, but only together. Because an express declaration is conclusive unless it is varied by a later agreement, a change needs you both to agree. Ask a solicitor how to record the change, so it’s clear which document now counts.

It’s worth reviewing it when:

• one of you pays off a big part of the mortgage or pays for a large improvement
• one of you inherits or receives family money and puts it into the home
• you have a baby, or one of you steps back from work
• you remortgage or move
• you get married or form a civil partnership, which brings different legal rules

Two related changes work differently:

• Joint tenants to tenants in common. Either of you can do this alone by giving the other written notice, then telling HM Land Registry, with no fee. But it gives you equal shares. Unequal shares still need you both to agree and sign.
• Tenants in common to joint tenants. GOV.UK says you all have to agree, and you fill in a new or updated trust deed and apply to remove the Form A restriction.

If you can’t agree a change, the old declaration stays in place. If you’re separating, speak to a family solicitor or a mediator before you agree anything.

What should you do next?

1. Decide together first. Agree your shares, the deposits, the mortgage, bills and what happens if you split. CoHabit’s free 10-minute conversation takes you through it side by side, and your answers stay on your device. Start free, together.
2. Check the numbers. Compare equal shares, deposits back first and shares in proportion in the deposit split calculator.
3. Tell your conveyancer early. Say whether you’re buying as joint tenants or tenants in common, and in what shares or formula. Ask whether panel 10 or a separate deed suits you better, and for a quote.
4. Read it before you sign. Check the declaration says exactly what you both agreed, including what happens if there’s less money than you put in.
5. Write the rest down. Put bills, the mortgage, improvements and splitting up in a couples agreement that matches the declaration. Our guide to a couples agreement for buying a house covers what goes in one.
6. Make wills, especially if you own as tenants in common.
7. See a solicitor if family money is involved, one of you isn’t on the title or mortgage, either of you has children from before, or you want to change shares after buying. Citizens Advice suggests a family law solicitor for a declaration of trust.