I’d like to be added to the title deeds

Bangerchick

I’ve been married for 14 years and my husband bought our home about 5 years before we got together. I have never been added to the mortgage as I have never earned enough but I have bought things for the home and paid some of the bills. My dad passed away a few weeks ago and has left me some money and so I am going to pay for the house to be re roofed and buy a new kitchen. It has made me start to think should I now ask to be added to the title deeds of the home? Also things haven’t been great between my husband and myself though we are working on our relationship but i want that extra bit of security for peace of mind. I have asked my husband in the past about being added but he’s always said there is no need as we are married if we did divorce I’d be entitied to half of the house and if anything happened to him I’d get all of the house.
Is this the case? I’m not sure after reading some websites etc.
Advice would be welcomed.

AnotherJoe

Bangerchick wrote: »

I’ve been married for 14 years and my husband bought our home about 5 years before we got together. I have never been added to the mortgage as I have never earned enough but I have bought things for the home and paid some of the bills. My dad passed away a few weeks ago and has left me some money and so I am going to pay for the house to be re roofed and buy a new kitchen. It has made me start to think should I now ask to be added to the title deeds of the home?
I dont think "ask" should come into it. "Either it happens, or the roof doesn't", though I'm sure it can be phrased friendlier than that.

Also things haven’t been great between my husband and myself though we are working on our relationship but i want that extra bit of security for peace of mind.

Oh oh.
I have asked my husband in the past about being added but he’s always said there is no need as we are married if we did divorce I’d be entitled to half of the house and if anything happened to him I’d get all of the house.
Is this the case? I’m not sure after reading some websites etc.
Advice would be welcomed.

Possibly and no, in that order. If his will left it to the cats home then you'd be out of luck without spending a lot of money challenging the will.
I would make this expenditure, in the very nicest way, a condition of using the money, that you are added to the deeds so you are joint tenants.
After all, if what he says is correct, there's no downside for him is there?
If he's resistant to this, ask yourself whats going on? And then visit the relationships part of this forum as it doesn't sound good to me. Don't put your money into the house until this is sorted because if you then divorce you'll lose half of it even if you do get half the house. Better to keep it to help you after the split.

Tiglet2

Does your husband have a Will? What does it say?

AnotherJoe

Tiglet2 wrote: »

Does your husband have a Will? What does it say?

What does it say now and what might it say in future?



If there is one. I'm going to take a guess and say the sort of person thats been putting off this simple change for many years wont have got round to making a will anyway.

MovingForwards

If your relationship isn't on track I wouldn't be spending any of the money doing it up and would keep the cash as an emergency fund.

anselld

After 14 years of marriage the deeds will have no affect on the split of assets in Divorce.

AdrianC

Bangerchick wrote: »

I’ve been married for 14 years and my husband bought our home about 5 years before we got together. I have never been added to the mortgage as I have never earned enough but I have bought things for the home and paid some of the bills. My dad passed away a few weeks ago and has left me some money and so I am going to pay for the house to be re roofed and buy a new kitchen. It has made me start to think should I now ask to be added to the title deeds of the home?

You can't just be "added to the deeds". You would also need to be a joint borrower on the mortgage - and if the lender won't lend to you, then that's not happening.

Also things haven’t been great between my husband and myself though we are working on our relationship but i want that extra bit of security for peace of mind. I have asked my husband in the past about being added but he’s always said there is no need as we are married if we did divorce I’d be entitied to half of the house

The house would certainly be included in the divorce financial settlement, whether you're a joint owner or not. Whether the financial settlement splits it 50/50 is another question entirely. If you have kids, then it may well be more in your favour.

and if anything happened to him I’d get all of the house.

If he dies without a will, or with a will leaving it to you, yes.
If he dies with a will leaving the house to somebody else, no.

AnotherJoe

Adding OP to mortgage should not be an issue though unless they have bad credit or defaults etc ? Given that husband can afford it solo adding second person (and after 20 years) should be simple?

steampowered

While it is true that assets are usually split 50/50 after a long marriage, this is not guaranteed.

But there are still circumstances where not being on the deeds is a problem.

I think it is reasonable for you to want to be a joint owner of the property. Especially if you are paying for the roof.

Bangerchick

Thanks for your advice everyone. No he hasn’t a Will but as I’ve just lost my father who had no Will it’s made us realise how important making one is! Also we have a 13 year old daughter.
I’m hoping to start work properly soon and want to contribute towards the mortgage as we are only paying interest so want to start paying it off. so maybe I should wait until then and say I’d like to be on both mortgage and deeds.

Fire_Fox

Bangerchick wrote: »

Thanks for your advice everyone. No he hasn’t a Will but as I’ve just lost my father who had no Will it’s made us realise how important making one is! Also we have a 13 year old daughter.
I’m hoping to start work properly soon and want to contribute towards the mortgage as we are only paying interest so want to start paying it off. so maybe I should wait until then and say I’d like to be on both mortgage and deeds.

Get legal advice.

The solicitor's practice that prepares your wills can also advise on the implications of becoming joint tenants, tenants in common or legal separation without any changes to the ownership.

50/50 is not automatic: there is consideration of the future needs of each party. A stay at home parent/ homemaker with limited future prospects may be entitled to more of the marital assets than their spouse with excellent income/ prospects.

If you go ahead with repairs or improvements, ensure there is a very clear paper trail of who the work was done for, who paid and where those funds came from. Your name needs to be on the quote and invoice, the money should be transferred from your late father's estate to your own bank account (not joint) then to the builder (not cash).

HTH.