If two people buy a house together and then split up....?

Question

I am considering purchasing a house with my fiance. My father is still very skeptical and I know will think I am "making too big of a financial commitment" (despite the ring on my finger). Not that we have any intentions of splitting, but so that I can discuss with my father... if we theoretically bought a house (together, both names on everything) and then split, what would happen?

Answer 1

Wait until you're married. Then when you split up, the wife gets everything.

Answer 2

Your Dad is wise. Listen to him!

You would have a bit of a mess on your hands. The best resolution would be to sell the house and split any profit. Also, one of you could buy the other out. You'd need to get a new mortgage to do that assuming that neither of you are independently wealthy.

But, breakups are often contentious and people seldom are feeling magnanamous in those times. This often results in one or both parties refusing to budge on what they want to do themselves. Just imagine having to live with someone that you now despise for whatever reason since neither of you can afford to walk. When that happens, about the only thing left is for one party to file a suit for partition to force the sale of the house and the division of any proceeds. If this happens early on before there is much equity in the house, both parties often wind up losing out financially and have their credit trashed, etc.

Once you have that SECOND ring on your finger, go for it. At least then you'll have some laws to help you sort things out if things all go pear-shaped.

Answer 3

Once you purchase a home both of you would hold "Equitable Title" of the home. If you then split both of you would have to come to an agreement on what you want to do with the property. Here are two scenarios you might run into in a nut shell:

1.SELLING THE HOME- both of you would have to come to an agreement to do so. The amount of profit that comes from the sale would be determined by an agreement once again. It can get sticky once you start to talk about who should get what.

2.ONE PARTY KEEPS HOME- if one party wants to keep the home and the other wants out here is how i have handled this situation in the past. The party that will be staying will re-finance under their name solely and cash out some of the equity in order the "pay off" the leaving party. Once again the amount is will be negotiable on who deserves what.

I am not a Real Estate lawyer by any means. This is just from what i have experienced with past clients. In any of these cases I highly suggest getting a lawyer involved. It is the easiest and quickest way to resolve any conflicts.

But hey you getting married right? So hopefully you wont have to worry about this in the long run. Good luck!

Hope this helps,

The Loan MD

Answer 4

What matters more than the name on the title is the amount you are each paying for the house. If you were to split up and sell the house, you need to take the share of the sale price that you earned through your share of the down payment and monthly mortgage payments. Just make sure you put in writing what you want done with the house should you split before you marry. If you want it to continue after marriage this would need to be done in a prenuptial contract.

The thing to pay attention to if you want 50-50 distribution in the event of a sale of the house, is how you pay for the house and mortgage. If you keep it all 50-50 and keep all your receipts to that end, it will be no problem proving that you deserve 50% of the sale price in the end.

Answer 5

The answer will be outlined in the contract that the two of you are signing, that begins the investment partnership that you're forming. Are you doing a "joint partnership", an "LLC", ask the attorneys who are drawing up the documents.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic.... no, your dad did not hire me.

Listen to your dad. IF you do this, and then you break up, the one who hires the best attorney will fare better in the distribution of the proceeds (or debt). Think for a moment - "WHAT could possibly happen that would result in the two lovebirds NOT ending up married?" I can think of a few things, but suffice to say, if you two don't get married, it will probably be due to something that leaves you VERY angry at each other - either looking for guns or lawyers, or both. (I don't think that would happen either, but IF it did...)

Answer 6

When you sign your mortgage, it is a legal contract stating that BOTH of you are going to be responsible for payment on that property.

Unless it is one of those whacky "interest only" mortgages (which I am not sure of the legal ropes on), you are still both responsible for that mortgage.

So, if you split, you are both responsible for payment. Now, one of you could take over the payments by themselves (assuming either of you can afford it) but if payments stop, both of your names are going to get hit on the credit reports.

Options if there is a split are to re-finance the house for one of you, or simply (and usually) sell it quickly. Since most people sell the home, there isn't a long term issue. It is trying to keep the home on a single salary that poses the problem.

Any profits made on the home for increased value and for any equity already owned, will be split by you both, unless there is a pre-nup.

Answer 7

As long as there are two names on the mortgage and filed with both names then you become joint owners. In the event of a split then the equity would be split 50/50.

Answer 8

Boy, talk about a lot of bad advise.

If you purchase a property, and are not married, the deed will say, Your Boyfriend, as single person and Yourself, a single person . . .

You can then declare the type of ownership. The two basic kinds are Tenants in Common and Joint Tenancy.

With Tenants in Common each person owns a fractional part of the property, which can be stated in the deed. Should one or the other person die, the factional part of the property passes to their heirs and not the other tenant. Should one or the other of you decide you want to sell, you can sell your portion of the property WITHOUT permission from the other tenant.

With Joint Tenancy if one of you dies, the fractional part that they own passes to the other tenant without going through probate. Property purchased by married couples are Joint Tenancies.

Good Luck

Answer 9

If you have both names on everything,then after a split up the house will still belong to the two of you. Together or not ,you both will be responsible for the payments on it untill it is paid off ,or you sell it.

Answer 10

Try the site below, make sure to change the location/state in which you reside. Hope this helps. If you need an Attorney, click the last site and watch the online movie presentation.

Answer 11

You could either sell the house and split the proceeds or one of you could buy the other one out.