dividing assets

What is the name of your state? minnesota

if 2 people living together as boyfriend & girlfriend and having 1 child together and she has a child by a previous marrage decide to separate and they own a house jointly who gets to keep the house?

[nextwife]

Neither. If they are both on title and both on the mortgage, they both have an ownership interest and they would both have a debt obligation associated with the mortgage for the remaining term.

One could buy out the other's interest and refinance the debt to remove their name from the mortgage OR they sell, split the proceeds and each get their own place, which also removes the debt. If one walks away and merely signs the house over to the other, leaving the mortgage in place, in a few years when they are ready to get their own place (maybe with a new spouse), they will find they cannot qualify because the mortgage still sits out their with their name on it(for MANY remaining years!). Or worse, the other party defaults, and their credit is ruined, plus they can end up with a default judgement out there against them.