My sister and I each own a house in the Midlands. Could we put them both in our joint names so that on the death of one of us the surviving sister would become the sole owner of both?

Arthur Weller replies:
You can do as you have written. If two people are joint owners of a property, as opposed to tenants-in-common, when one of them dies the property automatically goes to the survivor, without the necessity for probate: www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual/cg70520 and www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trusts- settlements-and-estates-manual/tsem9210. But a transfer of half of each property strictly speaking would trigger capital gains tax (CGT). However, possibly in your situation principal private residence relief would mean no CGT to pay. There also should be no stamp duty land tax (SDLT) to pay, because the properties are being gifted for no consideration. But HMRC may challenge this and say that an exchange is taking place, and levy SDLT accordingly. It may be simpler to just write the wills so that each sister inherits her house to her surviving sister, even though this will necessitate probate.