Q: I want to add my partner to the title of my home. What are the legal consequences of this and what forms do I need to fill out? Thank you for your time.
A: You can simply do a quit claim deed, but that will only accomplish part of your goal. What you want to do is protect each other in a way that would mimic the protections you would get if you were a heterosexual couple. One way to do this is with a web of trusts. You’d put the property into a trust and she would be the beneficiary on the trust. There are also tax considerations to think about. Putting your partner on title to the house is like giving her a gift of half the value of the property. While you can give anyone up to $12,000 per year tax-free, if your property is worth more, you’ll have to fill out a gift tax return with the IRS and it will start to eat into your $1 million lifetime gift exemption. I’ve written about this topic on my website. You might also want to check out a book by Sheryl Garrett (www.garrettplanningnetwork.com). She is a certified financial planner (CFP) who has written extensively about this topic. Good luck. And, thanks for visiting ThinkGlink.com.
I had been with my girlfriend for 16 years when she offered to buy a “fixer-up” house for me to remodel and then we would sell it. She ended up buying my grandparents house that needed a lot of work. I worked my butt off and put 3 years into fixing it up. Didn’t have a happy ending though, shortly after our 19 year anniversary, she broke up with me and moved out to live with her coworker. I Had no idea. . Now she has taken all the furniture and everything from the other house and had a realtor draw up papers to sell it without giving me anything for my work. I am refusing to sign the papers unless she gives me half so it is getting messy. The mortgage was in her name and my name was on the title. She paid those house bills and I paid everything at the other house I also paid cash for lake property and put her name on the title. She promised me she would pay half. Until we broke up that is. See where this is heading? I wish you guys the best but you don’t know what the future brings. Do your selves a favor and have everything done legally. This mess I am in is going to cost a fortune to solve, only ones making out will be the lawyers. good luck!!!