# Marriage and the house deed **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-and-the-house-deed/488400 "2009-03-05T16:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-and-the-house-deed/488400/21 "2009-03-06T19:58:35Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > Wait a minute, I am confused on the non-marital asset angle: Say I have a house that is worth half a million dollars but only have 20 k in equity. I then get married, don’t change the deed in any way, but my wife and I together pay off the mortgage over 10 years. We then get divorced. It seems to me that many people in this thread are implying that the house (with no wife on the deed) would be considered a “non-marital” asset and would not be included in a division of property at the divorce even though it could be argued that the wife is entitled to 50% of the 480k in equity she helped pay for… > > What am I missing? Which is why I said “If she cosigns a mortgage, but is not added to the deed, the lawyers on both sides of that divorce will love you guys, as the question of whether the asset was transmuted into marital property would be muddied.” If wife pays for part of the house, the lawyers are the ones who will profit most because the H will say “it’s my house and we both knew that” and the W will say “I helped pay off the house so I should have earned ‘special equity’ in the house.” The fight will buy the respective lawyers new boats. Get a pre-nup. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-and-the-house-deed/488400/22 "2009-03-06T20:08:39Z")
> [@legalsnugs](#): > > Which is why I said “If she cosigns a mortgage, but is not added to the deed, the lawyers on both sides of that divorce will love you guys, as the question of whether the asset was transmuted into marital property would be muddied.” > > If wife pays for part of the house, the lawyers are the ones who will profit most because the H will say “it’s my house and we both knew that” and the W will say “I helped pay off the house so I should have earned ‘special equity’ in the house.” The fight will buy the respective lawyers new boats. Get a pre-nup. I should have mentioned that W does not have to co-sign a mortgage to prove she deserves a special equity in the asset. If she can prove she made specific payments on the house (e.g. not that she put her paycheck in the joint account from which the mortgage payments were made, but that she wrote mortgage payment checks from her own account, or some such thing), she may get part of the equity even if her name is not on the deed or the mortgage. Again, laws vary by state; family courts decision vary by judge. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-and-the-house-deed/488400/23 "2009-03-06T20:13:13Z")
> [@legalsnugs](#): > > I should have mentioned that W does not have to co-sign a mortgage to prove she deserves a special equity in the asset. 😃 I’ve been meaning to point that out each time you brought it up. But since I blew it upthread, I figured I’d leave it alone. That’s right, it’s about whether she contributed to the increased equity or preservation of the property (taxes, insurance, repairs, and whatnot). ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-and-the-house-deed/488400/24 "2009-03-06T20:51:59Z")
What’s the process for adding one’s name to deed and mortgage? My wife bought our house when I moved in with her when I moved from Cali to Michigan. We got married two years later. She bought it solo because my credit rating is sub-par. I’ve been putting in most of the sweat equity, and a good deal of the dollar equity, although that comes out of a joint account. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-and-the-house-deed/488400/25 "2009-03-06T21:11:45Z")
How about this one… We bought our house after marriage in California (community property) using both of our incomes to pay mortgage. However, all the financing and title are in my name only because we got a better deal just using my credit rating rather than both on the ramp up to purchase. Now, I have title and mortgage in my name only but we both make the payments. We have negative equity right now, but not a huge negative. No plans to sell. Hopefully refi if the market ever turns around. We have thought about adding her name to title, but can’t really come up with any pros or cons either way. Thoughts? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-and-the-house-deed/488400.md?page=1)