adding spouses name on the home

[Mi Bankruptcy]

I know most of our forum members are pretty smart and would be able to provide advice. My wife is a home maker or stay at home mom. How do you go about adding a spouses name to the house?

I bought the house right before we got married. Our relationship is strong so I am not worried about divorce. Even if she did divorce me she could have the house. So, how do you go about adding a name? I live in Michigan. Thanks in advance, I did reaffirm the mortgage after we filed bankruptcy and we were married if that matters? Thoughts?

[woeisme]

To put her on the deed, you go to the courthouse I think. To put her on the mortgage papers involves doing a new loan agreement, which could be bad if your credit is shot so the terms would be worse and the loan would cost more. I have the house in just my name too, and I remember when signing the papers they said I could add my hubby later by going to the court, just never did because he has adult stepchildren from a previous marriage that could try to fight me in court over total ownership of house if something happened to hubby (our will also covers this, but decided better safe than sorry because he has one daughter who is a real piece of work where $ is concerned).

[Mi Bankruptcy]

Thanks,
I will do some more investigating. If something happens to me I don't want any problems for my wife. I know you can do a quit claim if you are married and getting a divorce. However, I thought that was to transfer. I was wondering if you could do the same for adding a spouse

[StartingOver08]

Yes, you can do the same thing to add your spouse to the deed. You can have a real estate attorney prepare the quit claim deed properly or you can do it yourself. In your situation, it probably is better to just have her on the deed and not on the mortgage.

[Mi Bankruptcy]

Thanks. I will call the mortgage company and also check to make sure. My dad she may be protected under automatic dower rights. However, I thought on protected one spouse from other from selling the home.

[OhioFiler]

You can't add her to the mortgage.

[FLBK7]

Your wife can be on the deed and not on the mortgage. The mortgage is in your name and is your sole responsibility. Depending on your state, your wife may be protected under dower rights. The easiest way to put her on the deed is for you to execute a Quit Claim Deed from "you" (first party) to "you and wife" (second party). You can even buy the standard form at any office supply store like Office Depot. You then take it to the Courthouse and have it recorded for a nominal fee. And then you and your wife are legal co-owners of the property.

[hereforinfo]

A quit claim deed from you to yourself and spouse is pretty much all you'll need to do. She will be on the deed, but not the loan.

[2BEDEBTFREE]

Here in Ohio, I went to the treasurers office and did what they call a "Transfer on Death" (or TOD) deed to make sure my kids would get my house and not my spouse since it was my premarital property. My spouse was able to borrow on my house because I added him to my deed. Huge mistake! I later executed the transfer on death deed to prevent him from cheating my children because I found out he would have. The TOD deed would transfer all your interest in the house to her but also offers some protection if you should become disabled and possibly unable to make payments. Adding her to the deed gives the bank the right to sue her in a foreclosure (as a party with interest in the property) even if she is not responsible on the note. So she could be foreclosed on but is not be responsible for the debt, therefore has no rights with the lender. That is pretty sucky. It essentially penalizes her to be on the deed. No one ever plans not to make their house payments, it just happens. I would make sure I have life insurance with her as beneficiary, do the TOD deed, and make sure your will is up-to-date. If after that someone is pressuring you to add their name to the property, hmmmm...And yes she would still have dower rights, however because the house was purchased by you before the marriage, only a portion is considered to be a marital asset. A portion of it is premarital (depending on the laws of your state) for purposes of division of property matters. You need to research whether Transfer-On-Death deeds are legal and valid in your state. It saves a lot of hoops in the estate settlement process for the living spouse with a TOD deed. I followed the format provided online and took it to the treasurers office and filed it for $14. IMPORTANT: If you don't file it with the treasurers office it is not a valid TOD deed.

[SunshineGal]

Michigan is a tenancy by the entireties state for real property. Spend some time on Google searching for how to best vest the title....my guess is going to be Mr. and Mrs. MI Bankruptcy, husband and wife, as tenants by the entireties. BUT, I don't have any title experience in Michigan.

FYI - Your Dad is correct. Since you are married your wife has a "dower right" on the home and would have to sign off on it if you were to sell.

There shouldn't be any reason to pay an attorney to record the title. Pull a copy of your deed from your paperwork or your county clerk, deed it from Mr. MI BK, a single man, to Mr. and Mrs. BK, H/W (or whatever you find on Google), put either $10 or "love and affection" for the consideration (BIG NOTE - you may have to pay taxes and recording fees on this - check your state laws) and record it with your county clerk. Be sure to use the actual legal description from your current deed, not the street address.