I currently own a house in Exeter with my ex-wife. I am transferring the property pursuant to a consent order into mine and my new girlfriend's name. My ex-wife is receiving a lump sum of money and we are repaying the existing mortgage and taking a new mortgage in ourjoint names. Am I liable to any stamp duty land tax?

Arthur Weller replies: 
If you look at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stampduty-land-tax-manual/sdltm00550 you can see that certain transactions on the ending of a marriage are exempt from stamp duty land tax. These transactions are those made between the parties to the marriage as a result of:

• certain types of court order;

• an agreement between the spouses/partners in
contemplation or in connection to the dissolution or
annulment of their marriage or civil partnership; or

• their judicial separation or a separation order.

However, the exemption is not available if the transaction involves someone other than the spouses or civil partners. So, it is worth checking to see whether it makes a difference that the property is being transferred into the names of both you and your new girlfriend