Married but wife's name not on deed to home

[Greatkiddos]

State of TN. My husband & I married last September. Prior to marriage, he owned a home and so did I and we decided to sell both & purchase a new marital home. We tried to line things up as best we could but we bought the new home in June when he sold his home, mine didn't sell until 4 months later. In June, since the mortgage was going to be a V. A. loan...it had to be in my husband's name only since we were not marrying until September. Quit claim deed suggested and off we went. Now, here I am 1 year later...we split bills like roommates...50/50...so I have been making 1/2 of the house payment but my husband has come up with every excuse in the book not to add my name to the deed. The latest, was that he had a friend..similar circumstance and everything automatically went to wife and it was easy because they were married & her name wasn't on the deed either. I know this is not true. This is causing my marriage great problems and it is not my first marriage so I have less patience for this nonsense. What would happen if he dies? I am not on his Auto insurance, his Homeowners Ins, his mother (living) is still beneficiary of his Life Ins and he has a joint account with his mother but my name is nowhere to be found except on my own things, to which I have added him. What situation would this leave me with on the house in the event he dies or becomes incapacitated? We are middle aged...45 & 51. He has no children and no will.

 

[HRZ]

OUCH

my guess as a layman , you stand to inherit the home under Intestacy

You get nothing out of joint account and life insurance paid to Mom and no assurances you will be added if she passes first .. Yes it's nice he cares for Mom but you are a bit like a paying roommate .

 

[Greatkiddos]

Thank you for your response. Even through Intestacy...would things still be held in Probate, and leave me with legal expenses having to deal with an Estate Attorney to get things fixed? I agree, he does take care of his Mom but she is mid 70's & has her house paid for...not really worried about me getting money from their joint account... I added him to mine internally in case anything happens...neither of us have a desire to balance each other's daily expenses & I am ok w/the split we arranged...but I have never even paid Rent for somewhere I was not on a lease..now I feel like I am somewhere in the middle...paying half a house payment but being treated like a roommate!

 

[not2cleverRed]

As HRZ commented, everything without Mom's name on it would go to you and his children, should he have any, but legal expenses for dealing with an Estate Attorney should be paid for by the estate, if it has the assets to do so.

When you sold the house, would I be correct in assuming that the proceeds went into the new house?

 

[Greatkiddos]

Well, since everything apparently has his Mom's name on it...I worry that I will be out in the cold trying to figure out how to pay for or hold onto anything even if things are acquired through Intestacy...I would imagine that is not immediate & I live paycheck to paycheck supporting myself & my daughter...and would probate have to be established first? . He works in law enforcement and we both know that this profession carries more than the average risk. We come from, a "you have what you work for" lifestyle so there is debt for the house and his vehicle..and no real equity to speak of since we've only owned it for about 1 year. He probably walked away with $1K when he sold his house as he hadn't owned it long..and me, I walked away with only $7000 after owning mine for 12 years (that's another story) so I did invest about $2500 of it in the marital household for appliances, in addition to taking out a loan for $3500 to build a storage building on the property...but I used the rest to pay off the small balance on my credit card so that is all gone. It was 100% financing so neither of us put money down on the marital home, but we've just split the bills incl house payment exactly 50/50 for over a year now.

 

[HRZ]

Lucky re intestacy rules, he has no children.

 

[Greatkiddos]

Lucky re intestacy rules, he has no children.

Yes, I suppose that is one good thing going here...lol but I have a sore personal experience with that as well so even if he did, I would never do his kids wrong. When my Dad died 6 years ago, our family farm since the 1700's, 300 acres (in Va.), the entire estate, including 22 antique cars, motorcycles, camper, 2.4 million...all went to the woman he married 25 years ago. There were 3 of us children (well, 4 as we found out about another sister at the reading of his will) that each got $10K...which was nice as I needed a new heat pump and carpet but he willed it all to her the day he came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve (hospitalized with bone cancer) and died 7 months later. My ancestors would roll over in their graves.

 

[LdiJ]

State of TN. My husband & I married last September. Prior to marriage, he owned a home and so did I and we decided to sell both & purchase a new marital home. We tried to line things up as best we could but we bought the new home in June when he sold his home, mine didn't sell until 4 months later. In June, since the mortgage was going to be a V. A. loan...it had to be in my husband's name only since we were not marrying until September. Quit claim deed suggested and off we went. Now, here I am 1 year later...we split bills like roommates...50/50...so I have been making 1/2 of the house payment but my husband has come up with every excuse in the book not to add my name to the deed. The latest, was that he had a friend..similar circumstance and everything automatically went to wife and it was easy because they were married & her name wasn't on the deed either. I know this is not true. This is causing my marriage great problems and it is not my first marriage so I have less patience for this nonsense. What would happen if he dies? I am not on his Auto insurance, his Homeowners Ins, his mother (living) is still beneficiary of his Life Ins and he has a joint account with his mother but my name is nowhere to be found except on my own things, to which I have added him. What situation would this leave me with on the house in the event he dies or becomes incapacitated? We are middle aged...45 & 51. He has no children and no will.

Well, you need to get his name off your stuff if you have children or anyone else that you would like to inherit some or all of your estate. If his name is on your stuff he gets it all. If his name is not on your stuff and you have no will, he gets 1/3 and your children get the rest. If your children's name is on your stuff your children will get your stuff.

His mother is going to get all of anything her name is on. If you actually put your money into his house, then you need to absolutely insist that your name be on the deed. If you did not put your money into his house, then stop making 1/2 the house payment. If something were to happen to him, and he had no will, you would get 1/3 of whatever is in his estate (his mother would still get the bank account and life insurance).

 

[not2cleverRed]

Well, you need to get his name off your stuff if you have children or anyone else that you would like to inherit some or all of your estate. If his name is on your stuff he gets it all. If his name is not on your stuff and you have no will, he gets 1/3 and your children get the rest. If your children's name is on your stuff your children will get your stuff.

His mother is going to get all of anything her name is on. If you actually put your money into his house, then you need to absolutely insist that your name be on the deed. If you did not put your money into his house, then stop making 1/2 the house payment. If something were to happen to him, and he had no will, you would get 1/3 of whatever is in his estate (his mother would still get the bank account and life insurance).

Where do you get this figure? He has no children.

 

[LdiJ]

Where do you get this figure? He has no children.

I forgot that he had no children. She would get whatever he hasn't already made his mother the beneficiary of.

 

[Greatkiddos]

Thanks to all for the responses. I suppose I have some serious decisions ahead as it seems that I would clearly be left out in the cold if something were to happen to him.