Tenants in common and nil rate band discretionary trust with children as beneficiaries

[ElectronicFur]

I am about to buy a house together with my wife. This is the first time we have bought a house together, so I am looking into whether we should buy it as "joint tenants" or as "tenants-in-common."

Reading various articles such as http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news ... ommon.html , the main benefit of going the tenants-in-common route for married couples, is that a discretionary trust can be setup with our children as the beneficiaries. And this then ensures that when the first one dies, the half of the assets that effectively were owned by that person don't end up paying any possible care home fees years down the road for the surviving partner. The article above states the trust accepts a debt equal to a share of the home worth up to the IHT threshold, which is repaid when the surviving partner dies. I assume that it takes into account only the equity built up in the home when there is still a mortgage on it, is that correct?

Before I speak to someone about this, can anyone point out any pitfalls to be aware of if going down this route?

Also what happens if the surviving partner wants to sell the house and move, can the trust then oppose such a wish? I thought it might be an issue because the trust accepts a debt equal to a share of the home, and the home might then be a form of collateral for the debt.

Cheers,
EF