An accountant who was made redundant in 2012 after working with a company for 15 years is in the process of buying a three-acre property in St Catherine for a business venture.

He said when he approached his cousin to lend him some money to assist him to purchase the property, his cousin suggested that they should be business partners instead.

"The only reason I asked my cousin to lend me the money was because I did not want to have a mortgage on the property," he explained.

"The property consists of two dwelling houses and a large shop, which I intend to expand into a large wholesale business. I plan to refurbish the two houses and rent them so I can make extra money. I would run the wholesale business and I know I would be able to repay my cousin within two years.

"My cousin can more than afford to lend me the money because I know as a fact that he has it. He owns several businessplaces but I just think he is being selfish and just doesn't want to see me try to do something meaningful.

"If I had the money and he needed help, I would lend him, because we grew up like brothers. There is nothing too good that I would not do for him. He was lucky because he was an only child and when his father died some years ago in England he got all his father possessed.

"I know I will do well in the business if I just get the chance. The owner of the property, who is a relative of mine, has been waiting on me for the last six months to make a deposit so he can start the transaction.

"Last month, I called my cousin and spoke to him again about the situation. He said he would only assist me if we were going to be partners in the business. Now I have no choice but to go with his suggestion, so we went to see the owner of the property. We made a deposit, but I am not really sure how the title should be. My cousin is suggesting joint tenancy, but a friend of mine said I should not do that, because I have a wife and children.

Land transactions must be done by a lawyer. There are two types of joint ownership to a property. It is either as tenants in common or joint tenants. You should explain to your lawyer and your cousin that in the event of your death, you would like your wife and children to benefit from your share in the property. If you purchase the property as tenants in common, it means that, if you die before your cousin, your share in the property will go to your beneficiaries.

However, in the case of joint tenancy, whoever dies first, the property would automatically go to the survivor.