Remortgage questions for soon to be married couple

hazzp

Hi,

My partner and I are getting married in Feb 2018 and currently live together in a house bought before we met by my husband to be and so registered on the deeds and mortgage solely under his name.

The currently mortgage ends shortly after our marriage date so we are looking at new mortgage deals and also what we should do in terms of adding me to the deeds/mortgage? For clarity we are on similar incomes and I have paid half the mortgage payments since I moved in c2yrs ago, however my partner has contributed substantially more in terms of deposit and payments before we met which I fully recognise. We both know exactly how much has been paid by each of us to date and are open to each other about our finances across all areas. (As an aside: As I don’t have property of my own we agreed that half of my mortgage payments are in an account in my name that my partner is aware of that I will transfer over to him once I have a legal interest in our house. This was in case we didn’t stay together and I needed to buy on my own down the line but had no claim on what I’d paid in.)

Initially we were thinking of paying the solicitor fees to add me to the deeds as part of remortgaging in both our names. We would do this as tenants in common to reflect a fair share of contribution between us over the life of the mortgage and the deposit/payments made prior to us meeting.

However I’ve since read that by getting married we would automatically have rights across our assets and fair contribution would be considered should we split down the road (not expected in the slightest but trying to be practical!) and that I could register home rights on the house for free so that he couldn’t sell or remortgage without my consent anyway. What are the risks of this to either of us if we chose this option and kept the mortgage and deeds in his name? We don’t have wills yet or life insurance so I thought the money saved on changing the deeds might be better prioritised towards arranging these legal positions instead? Or do we need to cover all bases and go ahead with changing deeds, mortgage, setting up wills and life insurance?

Appreciate any informed guidance you can share. Ultimately we hope that none of this will ever be relevant in that we live happily married till we’re old, and should that not occur we’re able to agree friendly terms...but we would like to be fully informed on our choices and it seems easier to sort legal setup now to save possible heartache later.

Thanks, H