Husband wants name added on house

[Yanique2580]

Hi everyone
I moved into my house, which i bought with my own money with savings and the sale of my flat. My husband was struggling financially at the time so coudnt contribute anything towards the house we now live in. The house is in my name. However, the house needed renovating and my husband put in 2 new bathrooms and a kitchen , and has done most of the renovations. We went out for dinner the other night and he asked if I could add his name to the house. I told him I would think about it. Im grateful for the work he has done but I saved my own money and used the sale of my flat to afford a mortgage for the house. Also he recently added me to his insurance, as it meant I could use his car , as he used to have anxiety about driving. He had 3 years of struggling with jobs and turning down job offers because he didn't want to sit in traffic or 1drive to far, but I stood by him. He asked me the other day if I could give him money for my car insurance as it comes out of his account because its joint in his name. I asked him why he coudnt help me with 75 pounds a month and he said do you want to change to having your own insurance.🙄 To be honest I really don't want to add his name to the mortgage.

Sorry - I am confused. Is there a mortgage? If so do you pay that on your own?
You may be able to get something drawn up legally to reflect your original contribution in the event of a split - but as others have said, the house would be viewed as a marital asset regardless of what the deeds say.

Are there problems within the marriage? I don’t see the issue with adding him, but at the same time i have still not been added to ‘our’ house and DH and I have been married over 20 years. I have never had cause to feel insecure about it though. Our children are grown and our mortgage is paid, I have no concerns regarding the house.

If you’re married then he is entitled to half anyway. You could see a solicitor to ring fence the money you put into it?

Nothing wrong with wanting to ring fence assets in a long term partnership, but if that is what you want then why on earth get married?

Surely the literal point of marriage is to throw your lot in together, and act as a partnership rather than two individuals?

You married him, so all your assets are matrimonial assets regardless of whose name is on anything.
If you didn't want him to have any rights to your property you shouldn't have married him. A married couple are one financial entity in law.

For goodness sake dont believe mumsnet opinions. Consult a solicitor.
I owned my own home outright before being married. I was then married for 20 years and my ex husband didnt get a penny of it in the divorce.
Don't add him to the mortgage and consult a decent solicitor for information on what your H could get in a divorce. He doesnt need to know you've made enquiries.
Protect your assets and your own hard work.

I dont understand what the point in being married is if this is what it looks like

They’ve been married for four years. She bought it a year ago. During the marriage. They share bills —except for her share of the car insurance which she expects him to pay.

Sorry OP but this doesn’t sound like much of a marriage from your point of view. You don’t seem to trust him or even like him much.

Two different things being on the deeds and being on the mortgage. Does he want both? Does he pay his half of the mortgage? Take legal advice. It may well be that if you want you can be tenants in common with either designated share of the property or arrange it so that your original contribution is ring fenced and everything after (house value/increase in equity etc ) that is split 50/50 or whatever proportion reflects his contribution. A good man would want your contribution to be recognised and protected. He needs to be paying in. Do you have kids? Will you reduce your working hours if you do? Will he step up and take these jobs? All really important questions to ask now.

Savings accrued during the marriage?

This.

As a married partnership you are supposed to hold everything in common. Couples can choose to hold different accounts and have just one name on some assets but in the event of divorce it doesn't matter what name is on what, it all goes in the pot and is divided 50:50. If you are keeping things separate you should be ensuring you both end up with similar amounts of discretionary "fun" spending money.

But adding your name to his car insurance probably reduced his premiums, unless you are a terrible driver with a history of regular crashes.

Does he pay towards the mortgage? Can he consistently pay going forward if he has had previous trouble with finances?
If he can contribute equally going forward I'd put him on but get a proper solicitors agreement to protect your deposit / share of mprtgage youve paid for. I'd recognise stuff he has already paid for but take off what he would have paid in stamp duty for his share.

You remind me of my cousin's "fiancée". She had a house built by her parents for her. My cousin has been with her for thirty years, put a lot of money and effort into that place and legally owns nothing. Would end up with a "bare bum", as they say in my country of origin. 😂

This is your husband.
PPs say it's half his anyway, but everything can be challenged.
I understand you both.

Thats interesting you guys say bare bum because we would say "on the bones of your arse", basically same image

Seems unusual seeing that you are married.
What if it was the other way around?

To clarify the legal position, since a few of the early posts get it wrong...

The fact you are married does NOT automatically mean it is half his. As things stand, it is yours. However, should you divorce it will be treated as an asset of the marriage and go into the pot to be divided between you regardless of who owns it. If you did not cohabit before marriage, yours is currently classed as a short marriage giving you a stronger claim. Once it ceases to be a short marriage, the starting point is a 50/50 split of the assets. There are various factors that can move it away from a 50/50 split, but that is always the starting point.

What did the solicitor advised when you brought the property? Every time we've brought a house we had a discussion with the conveyancing team about how we wanted it to be set up in case of a split. You were already married so I'm sure there would have been some advice about how to protect your assets.

As an aside please people make sure you understand the difference between being on the mortgage and being on the deeds.Being on the deeds means you are a legal owner of the property. Being on the mortgage means you are legally responsible for paying the debt used to buy it and if the other person buggers off you could end up paying it by yourself.

It’s a marital asset and from the sounds of it he has contributed significantly. And he does so on a general level. I am not sure what is going on psychologically with you that you are not sharing with him. Have you had a bad experience? Trust issues? In any case. You both own the house. YABU to make him feel otherwise.

I think some people are missing the reason that courts are inclined towards 50/50.

It is also the reason that we now have “no fault divorce”.

The government doesn’t want people out on their arse with no money, turning to them with their hand out.

If you have an asset, and your spouse has nothing, they are going to be inclined to share the asset with the spouse simply because it’s better for them.

You can argue till the cows come home that he doesn’t deserve it, but if he doesn’t have assets of his own (and you married him) then the courts are very likely to give him half.

Right, but you can’t do one without the other can you? In my experience anyway.

You would need permission from the lender to add someone to the deeds, and the lender would want them added to the mortgage. The lender needs to be able to realise the value of the property in default, and so they need all owners on the hook. Similarly, there’s no point in the lender having someone on the mortgage that they can’t pursue for the property.

Once you’re married it pretty much makes no difference whose name the house is in. He would almost certainly be entitled to half. You should go and see a solicitor if you’re that worried.

I don’t think it’s that unusual. I’m married and own our home because it was purchased with the sale of my previous home and my DH doesn’t have the best credit rating. We could get a better mortgage deal with just me.

I am the legal owner, he has matrimonial rights, and should we divorce he has a claim over it as a matrimonial asset.

And, in general, it protects women more than it does men.
I'm in favour of it.

It is half his already. Don't run up legal bills having someone explain this to you.