Information in relation to the First Home Owners Grant can be found on the State Revenue Office Website.

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Exemption of Duty

If this purchase is your first home, and you have signed the contract for this property after the 20 May, 2004, you may be entitled to an exemption of duty or a reduced rate of duty in relation to the duty payable on the transfer. To be granted the duty concession you must be approved for the First Home Owner Grant.

Please advise us if you believe that you are eligible under this scheme.

For more information in relation to the reduction of duty, please visit the Department of Treasury and Finance web site at www.treasury.tas.gov.au or we can send you the relevant information and application form on request.

Duty Loan Agreements

If the property you are purchasing is under $120,000.00 you may be entitled to a "State Government duty loan". This is an agreement where, for some first home buyers, the duty payable on the mortgage, is not paid at settlement, but is then paid over the next two years by eight equal quarterly monthly instalments, on an interest free basis.

If you believe you are eligible under this scheme, please advise us if you wish to take advantage of this scheme so that we can organise the necessary application forms.

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When properties are owned by two or more people, in Tasmania, real estate can be owned jointly in two ways, namely:

1.

As Joint Tenants. This means that if either of the joint owners die, the surviving owner automatically owns the property absolutely, no matter what provision is made in the Will of the deceased joint owner about that property. The asset owned by a joint tenant does not form part of the estate of the deceased owner.

2.

As Tenants In Common. This means that each owner has a separate interest in the property which is capable of being left by a Will (or which will pass under intestacy if a person has no Will). The share held in the property does form part of the estate of a deceased owner. If either owner dies, his or her share in the property does not automatically pass to the other owner, but forms part of his or her estate. It will pass to the beneficiary under his or her Will if a Will has been made, and if no Will has been made it passes under the provisions of the Administration and Probate Act to the next of kin. Tenants in common can hold in either equal or unequal shares.

There is no right or wrong way to hold the title as both forms of holding title have both advantages and disadvantages.

Some Advantages of being Joint Tenants

Sometimes, but certainly not always, husbands and wives who purchase property together hold their homes as joint tenants. This form of co-ownership may avoid the need to formally prove a Will (or obtain letters of administration) on the death of the first joint tenant. Even if this form of ownership is chosen you should have a properly prepared Will for the obvious reason that it is usually not known who will die first or whether the joint tenants will die at a time closely together.

Some Disadvantages of being Joint Tenants

Where people hold as joint tenants neither joint tenant will be able to leave his or her interest in the property for the benefit of others, for example children, until such time as they are the only surviving joint tenant. If the surviving joint tenant remarries there is an increased possibility that children of the deceased joint tenant will ultimately not obtain the benefit of the property, as in some cases the new spouse of the surviving joint tenant (or the children of that new spouse) may benefit.

On the death of the first joint tenant their share in the property automatically passes to the surviving owner irrespective of the intention of the first joint tenant at the time of death.

With matrimonial break ups there is additional expense to alter the tenancy to a tenants in common situation to provide for the different interests of the parties on a break up and for the likely form of new Wills in that circumstance.

Some Advantages of being Tenants in Common

Each separate owner has a separate interest which can be passed under a Will. Therefore when one tenant in common dies his or her share in the property does not automatically go to the other owner(s) but forms part of his or her estate.
Being able to set out the proportion in which each party holds the property is important when:

1.	the parties contribute different amounts towards the purchase price;
2.	the parties are in a defacto relationship;
3.	the parties are in business together; and
4.	for taxation reasons.

Holding as tenants in common is also an advantage because it allows the parties the ability to leave the share in accordance with changing requirements over time by altering their Will and without altering the title.

Some Disadvantages of being Tenants in Common

If a tenant in common dies without a Will his or her interest will be distributed in accordance with the Administration and Probate Act. Subject to Section 44 of the Act, a spouse receives the first $50,000 of an estate and the spouse and children share the balance of the estate above that figure as to one third to the spouse and two thirds to the children. For this and other reasons a tenant in common ought to have a properly drawn Will. Taking out probate for a tenant in common is an additional expense but obviously this does not arise until one of the parties dies.

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If the property that you are purchasing is part of a set of units, flats, high rise apartments or other grouped dwellings or other forms of collective title, it may have a strata title.

For more information on strata titles please read the document published by the Land Titles Office called "Strata Living in Tasmania".

You will see in Section 4 of the booklet under "Insurance" that a Body Corporate is responsible for insurance on the common property and any building divided by the plan. It is our experience that clients sometimes have difficulty obtaining appropriate insurance satisfying their mortgagee's requirements and the requirements of the Act. You should ensure that you make enquiries in relation to the insurance very early in the transaction so that settlement is not delayed as a result of insurance not being available in a timely way.

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