Hello all. Thank you for being here and giving me some advice. I purchased my home in 2020 and my live in boyfriend gave me 8k to help with the down payment. The mortgage is 100% mine. He has been pressuring me to put him on the deed. It has been the subject of many arguments. Should I put him on the deed? He feels I owe it to him for the 8000. Sorry if this seems petty, I just don’t know what to do. Background… it’s my first home and I’m in my 50s thanks again
Hello!
I’m clearly not an attorney or agent or anything, but in a similar situation.
The mortgage is all me, and I would not put his name on the deed. I did put him in my will though, and that seemed to resolve our issue.
Great idea! Thank you for suggesting that.
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Not unless he is being added to the mortgage! Name on deed just makes messy in the event of a breakup. Adding him to your will to allow him the 8K is more than adequate unless the 8K was a gift. If it was a gift, then it stays a gift.
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If you put anyone on the deed, they have a percentage of ownership in the property and improvements (house, pool, etc) If it’s just you and your boyfriend, typically that means 50/50. However, having his name on the deed does not bear any responsibility for him to pay towards the mortgage on the house. If he’s living in the house without paying anything towards your monthly mortgage payment, he basically has free rent. Giving you $8000 for the downpayment was a “loan” without any entitlement to ownership, legally. Using a $100.000. mortgage at 3% for 30 years as an example, the APR or tatal cost of that house would be 151,777.00. He gets a very sweet deal for $8000. The question is how confident are you that your boyfriend will be a part of your life while you pay off the mortgage? Is he making any payments towards the mortgage now, besides the down payment? No matter what happens, rather you stay together, split up, become deceased, split up and you marry someone else, he will always own 50% of your house until he is taken off the deed and he can legally ask for 50% of any appraised value of the home to “buy him out” and remove him off the deed. His heirs could also be entitled to his 50%. He can also prevent you from selling the house if you are no longer together as long as his name is on that deed. If you have the ability, I’d repay him the $8000 if he is so pushy about being put on the deed. If you decide to go along with his “deal”, I would speak with an attorney.
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Thank you all for the insight!! The 8k was a gift. I am not confident we will be together in the long haul so my goal is now to pay him back the 8k and be done with it. If he decides to leave me when I tell him “here’s your 8k and you are not going on the deed”, then I know I made the right decision. Thank you so much for all your help. You have empowered me!
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