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.

If I had put a wack of money into buying a house, then I would want it legally drawn up that I get that money back.

Right now you are worse off because he could easily take half of the house.

Get it in writing that you get back what you put in and then the rest is split in half.

You need to decide:
Is this a good relationship, and you are all-in, full committed to the long haul, planning to retire together.
Or
Is this a doubtful relationship, you are not sure if it is working, possibly heading for trouble, or a break up.

If you might break up, do it sooner rather than later; the longer you stay together the more claim he has on the house. Length of marriage affects whether he gets to keep 50% of the value of your house and pensions (and vice versa).

If this is a fundamentally good marriage and you are fully committed, then you need a joint current account for all bills and shared costs. Car insurance for a car that you both use should come out of the joint account. You pay into the joint account either proportionally to your earnings, or so that you both get the same personal 'fun' money in your individual current accounts each month.
See the many threads about joint finances on this board.

OP, you need to explain more if you want informed opinions here e.g. are you tenants in common? Deeds or mortgage?
You need proper legal advice.

It's not your house, regardless of who's on the deeds or mortgage.
It's a marital asset. Marriage is a financial contract.

Are you married of not? I don't get why people get married then behave like they didn't.

How do you see your future? Are you thinking about kids or are you older? He doesn't sound like he contributes much so I would be very cautious.

Your husband has an equity stake in your home undeniably. So the question is do you want your own legal advice to minimise his position and favour yourself or seek advice jointly to do the fair and decent thing. If it’s the former let him know - your marriage will likely be over too so you can get divorce advice at the same time.

You were very silly to marry such a man.
You need legal advice.
I would be protecting myself from him.
Going so far as to divorce him.
Its a short marriage so you could extract yourself from it without losing your home.

You are not a team.
You are providing too much.
He won't take jobs that involve driving?
He is looking after himself.
You are in parent carer role with him it seems.
He's very aware of protecting himself though.

If you didn't want to share your home, why on earth would you marry him and make it so messy?

Are you planning on bringing children into this dynamic?

Wake up quickly and decide do you want to remain married and divorce if not.
Wake up quickly and decide what you want before it is too late.

Who's money pays the mortgage?

I don't understand why you married him.
You're clearly trying to protect your assets in case of a split.
Either you're all in or you're not.
The time to make that decision was before marriage.
Now you're married that ship has sailed.

I am generally in favour of it, if for no other reason than it is literally what you agree to when you get married so from that point of view it’s only fair.

I am not in favour of “no fault” divorce when one party has cheated. The courts no longer recognise this as a fault, and I think it’s really unfair then that (in the case of someone I know) a woman can work more, pay more in, get cheated on and then the man can walk off with half her savings and pension - but I suppose that’s probably less common. Women cheat too, and I do think they should be held accountable for breaking the marriage contract. But the courts don’t care who deserves it, they just don’t want people being left with nothing and asking for handouts from the state. Which is in its own way fair enough, I suppose.

Anyway in this case, people saying 50/50 is only a starting point and you can negotiate from there, I don’t think OP would have much of a case to give him significantly less. If he’s helped with increasing the value of the house etc, the courts aren’t going to give her the whole house just because she paid for it - he could argue that contributing to bills has allowed her to put money into the mortgage that she would have otherwise struggled to do. And the court won’t see him penniless 🤷‍♀️

What a bizarre situation. Why even get married if that’s how you feel?

No it absolutely is not, common misconception but you need a claim to an interest in financials/property for it to be part yours. Just being married is not a valid reason.

People get confused because traditionally women with children often get the house or a share but its actually a combo the children's claim to security (going to custodian) + a 'labour' claim if they gave up financial independence and the ability to pay to save money by being a full time care give role which allowed the other to work and pay for the family home.

Its not just 'I married him so his house automatically becomes mine'.

However in OP case he does have a legal claim as she says he paid for and did the renovation. Any costs he put into the house that paid towards it or increased the overall value, so not bills but things like the deposit, paying the mortgage or renovating the main structure (standard decorating or basic maintenance like mowing the lawn or washing windows etc... doesn't count) becomes a claim.

It doesn’t matter really, it’s half his anyway. You just don’t want to agree to it but actually it’s out of your control - it’s a marital asset

Legal advise - I would say the money you put in is ring fenced to come back to you first if the inevitable happened (work out the % it was when you bought, compared to the new price).

First post nails it. Why do people think otherwise?

He might have a claim on the house, but after four years it isn’t going to be 50%, whereas if you put his name on it, it will be. This is why you need to see a lawyer.

When you say you bought the house - is there a mortgage and if so who is paying it? If he's paying half a mortgage you should have his name on the deeds, maybe with a deed of trust that in the event of a split you get your deposit back and the growth in value is shared between you. Your solicitor should have advised this.

Your husband is contributing to the life you both share and you should either get the divorce out of the way now or recognise that contribution.

You are married. A legal as well as emotional contract whereby you are legally and financially a single entity.

The house is a marital asset so it belongs to both of you.

Why did you get married when you don't seem to like him very much?

Don't listen to self-appointed legal experts on mumsnet OP.

She paid for the materials, he gave his labour.

You can have various different legal agreements drawn up that would make it clear how investment in the house works and how any share is to be divided upon sale. I'm not a lawyer, you should consult one re: joint tenants or tenants in common and what propotions - quite common for blended families to make the assets quite specific to manage probate.

That only applies if they divorce. Until then (or if she dies married and he is not dependent on her) she can do with her house as she wishes.

No this is incorrect. There is no tax for dispersal of assets between spouses.

There isnt any as Ive discovered after 3 husbands.
You marry for love then some twat runs off with another woman and tries to take half your house.
Ive always protected my assets as love is meaningless if your husband decides to leave. You cant trust anyone.
Its fine if he puts half in but if he doesn't then beware. He will enjoy spending your money.
Head over heart every single time.