When Jan and Mike purchased their apartment, they were advised to set up a Loss Attributing Qualifying Company (LAQC) to own the property as they could allocate losses to their shareholders.  

Many property investors who rent out their apartments will own them in LAQCs like Jan and Mike and may not be aware that from March this year LAQCs are being phased out.  If you are one of those owners you should talk to your accountant and lawyer to re-assess your ownership options as soon as possible.

Even if you do not own your property in an LAQC, it pays to review your ownership to make sure you understand the implications of how you own your property and that your ownership structure still suits your circumstances.  For example, whether you own the property as “joint tenants” or as “tenants in common”.  If you own a property as joint tenants, the property automatically passes to the survivor of you if one partner dies.  On the other hand if you own in tenants in common as to a half share you can leave your share of the property to whoever you choose.  There can also be multiple owners who own a property in different shares.

Trusts are also a common way to own property.  Trustees hold property on behalf of the Trust which is ring-fenced against creditors, relationship disputes and other claims.

If you consider that your property ownership no longer fits your circumstances you should talk to an experienced property lawyer to assess your options.