Sister pays mortgage but house in husbands name only ?

oldbookgirl

Hi this is my first post and I'm not sure if this is the correct forum so please feel free to shift it.

My sister has been married for nearly 20 years, she has always been the main breadwinner and she and her husband have kept their finances separate. Several years ago they bought the house they live in from her husbands father( he owned several properties). They have a joint mortgage and we (rest of family) assumed the house was in joint names also. However it turns out the house is only in her husbands name.

I think this is madness as I assume that if he felt like it he could sell it without her knowing or consenting - is this correct ?

I was surprised as I assumed that if the mortgage was joint the ownership would also be in both names.

Am I correct that technically she does not own this property - despite paying the bulk of the mortgage for all the time they've lived there ?

What should she do to safeguard herself and their kids ?

many thanks

WeBeBroke

hey there,
first of all I'm no legal expert on this but she has a few things in her favour:
-She's married to him so if they split up assets are shared as far as I know
-she can prove she's paid directly(if the payment was going from her account to the mortgage account) into the mortgage so she can prove payments and thus ownership
- her name is on the mortgage

Do you think there's some risk with your sister's marriage? My understanding is in a divorce situation, assets will be split - regardless of who's name is on the deeds.
But again, I could be proved wrong as I'm no expert.

WBB

WeBeBroke

He can't sell without the bank knowing - and if her name is on the mortgage she'll find out one way or another!

ViolaLass

I'm surprised that someone could be named on the mortgage but not named on the deeds - I thought the banks insisted you had to be on the latter to be included in the former but I may be wrong.

scottishchick27

ViolaLass wrote: »

I'm surprised that someone could be named on the mortgage but not named on the deeds - I thought the banks insisted you had to be on the latter to be included in the former but I may be wrong.

I agree with this, I'd get your sister to check with her mortgage company if her name is on the deeds.

Zenoka

ViolaLass wrote: »

I'm surprised that someone could be named on the mortgage but not named on the deeds - I thought the banks insisted you had to be on the latter to be included in the former but I may be wrong.

This is actually quite common. My hubby and I used to have this arrangement, although the house was in my name and the mortgage in both our names. This was because of complications with a house that hubby owned, I wont go into details.

There are two very good reasons why it would best to get her name on the deeds, and this doesn't mean in case of divorce - its about what happens when you die (gosh that sounds terrible!). You need to also consider if you do it as tennants in common or as joint tennants.

A good explanation here - http://homebuying.about.com/od/marketfactstrends/qt/0207TinCommon.htm

Rach39

Doesn't sound right to me - as it stands the Mortagee has lent your sister money with no securty!! As it stands if they split up and she stopped paying her share the bank would have nothing to repossess! How did she manage to get named on a mortgage without being on the deeds?

C_Mababejive

She has been naive or perhaps has not realised th full implications.

Oh well,time to put it right. She needs to have that conversation with him now.

Never live in a house that you have no legal right to reside in.

Mojisola

oldbookgirl wrote: »

What should she do to safeguard herself and their kids ?

As well as getting herself on the deeds of the house, encourage her to get wills made. Even though they are married, if a spouse dies without a will, the husband/wife only inherits outright the first £250,000. With the way house prices are in some parts of the country, that doesn't even protect the family home.

At the moment while they have a mortgage, she would know if he tried to sell but, at some point, the mortgage will be paid off and, yes, he could sell the house without her knowledge.

oldbookgirl

Thanks for all the replies - I was surprised too when I found out her name was on the mortgage but not the deeds and as the house was bought from his father I'm a bit suspicious to be honest. No one in our side of the family really likes sisters OH but she thinks the sun shines out his proverbial ! Their marriage has had a couple of rocky patches and at the moment my parents are discussing wills, residential care etc as they've suddenly realised they're getting on a bit - which is how the whole thing came up. I think they are going to get wills sorted out and I may ask her what plans they have made for their kids as she's asked me if I would be guardian if anything happens. I am still a bit concerned about the situation if separation or divorce occurs but reassured as she could def prove she's been paying.
Thanks again to all

alwaysonthego_2

She needs to put her name down as having interest in the property with the land registry, this means that he cannot sell without her permission/been informed.