This is the first of a new monthly series of sales aids designed to support advisers active in the equity release market.
In the UK, property ownership has two components – Legal Ownership and Beneficial Interest. The Legal Owner will be registered at the Land Registry and can be viewed electronically; Beneficial Interest confers all the financial benefits/interest relating to the property – in most domestic situations, the person who is the Legal Owner of the property will also own the Beneficial Interest however it is possible to split the two. In this situation the Legal Owner handles matters relating to the property and the proceeds of any sale belong to the person(s) owning the Beneficial Interest.
Many equity release customers specifically choose to take a home reversion plan in order to guarantee that a percentage of their property’s value passes to their estate after death or if they leave and move into long-term care. Bridgewater’s plans give customers not only guaranteed security of tenure but also certainty over the percentage of the property they retain as well as flexibility if further releases are required at any point in the future. In order to achieve these benefits whenever customers retain a percentage of their property Bridgewater split the Legal Ownership and Beneficial Interest.
Customers often require full information about this process such as the reasons why Bridgwater do this, why Bridgewater assumes Legal Title, and how the interests of the Beneficial Owner(s) are protected. This new sales aid aims to help advisers explain the full process undertaken by Bridgewater.
Peter Welch, head of sales and distribution at Bridgewater Equity Release, commented: “Bridgewater is committed throughout 2011 and beyond to producing a range of tools for advisers to use in order to help them provide information to clients on a variety of home reversion and equity release-related issues. This particular aid has been designed to tackle the questions that are often raised around why Bridgewater splits Legal Title and Beneficial Interest when setting up a home reversion plan.
“Because some equity release customers don’t understand the legal basis behind our plan many of them chose a lifetime mortgage when a home reversion may have better suited their needs. We hope that advisers will find this sales aid particularly useful when discussing home reversions, but also other equity release solutions, with both clients and their families.”
