Boyfriend / Girlfriend looking at buying house together.

My girlfriend and I are looking at buying a house. Initially, I decided to purchase a place mainly for the tax advantages. She became interested and now wants to be a part of the purchase and ownership. She is willing to put her share down, pay her part in the closing costs and on the monthly mortgage payment. She wants her name on the loan and the title. I am concerned about what happens if we decide to split. Who gets ownership of the home? What happens with the mortgage and those responisbilities? Is there anything we can do as individuals on the front end of this agreement to protect ourselves.

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Christoph:
My girlfriend and I are looking at buying a house. Initially, I decided to purchase a place mainly for the tax advantages. She became interested and now wants to be a part of the purchase and ownership. She is willing to put her share down, pay her part in the closing costs and on the monthly mortgage payment. She wants her name on the loan and the title. I am concerned about what happens if we decide to split. Who gets ownership of the home? What happens with the mortgage and those responisbilities? Is there anything we can do as individuals on the front end of this agreement to protect ourselves.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Very good concerns and good for you in planning in advance. There are various types of ways to hold title to real estate. For both of your protection, title should be held by way of tenants-in -common. That way if there is a parting of the ways, each party will retain interest in the property. If one party dies at anytime, the deceased estate owns the property rather than the surviving tenant. If you hold the property as joint tenants, if one party dies, the other party automatically receives the deceased party's interest.

If there is a split-up, the property can be sold and the proceeds (if any) divided equally or one party can buy out the other party.

The mortgage and other responsibilities remain the same as to liability before the split-up. Both parties still remain responsible. The creditors will hold both of you responsible jointly and severally. This means that if one party does not pay, the other party must still pay.

Consult with a real estate attorney prior to closing to be clear on your respective title and tax issues.

You can get some good ideas for how to address these concerns in a couple Nolo Press books: The Living Together Guide & A Legal Guide for Gay & Lesbian Couples. Your library probably has some of them. Once you figure out what you want to do, you can hire a real estate attorney to draw up the co-owner contract.

------------------
This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.