One spouse on mortgage?

[maddiepaddy]

My husband and I are in the process of refinancing our house and are considering putting the mortgage in his name only. If we do this, our rate will be 3.125%. My credit is not quite as good as his, so if we put it in both of our names, the rate will be closer to 3.3%. Either way, we will both remain on the title. I am wondering how many of you have only one spouse on your mortgage? What should I worry about if I'm not on the mortgage? What would happen in regards to the house if anything were to ever happen to him?

On a side note, I've been reading/lurking on this board for a while, and you ladies have inspired me to start getting many aspects of my finances in order. Thank you!!

[sleepyheads]

I'm the only one on the mortgage and the title. My husbands credit is crap, so it works out much better. My thought was that if you're married, it doesn't matter. I could be wrong, though.

[maddiepaddy]

So I could just keep paying the mortgage and wouldn't have to refinance?

[Deleted]

I'm the only one on the mortgage, as I bought before H and I were married. If your H were to die, you would need to refinance the mortgage into your name or pay it off (get life insurance if you don't already have some). As long as you are on the title you should be ok.

[Deleted]

I'm the only one on the mortgage because my H had his parents' house in his name and variable income (commission-based) when we bought. It's no big deal imo.

[ejpint]

My H is the only one on the mortgage, but we are both on the title.
Were something to happen to my H, the house would still go to me.

[Deleted]

this is what I found on line:
You should review the loan documents to see exactly what they say about whether the death of the borrower could invoke acceleration. It is also possible that state law might prevent them from forcing you to refinance, even if the documents do provide that.

However, even if they do contain language to that effect, it is unlikely that the lender or servicer would care so long as the payments are being made. However, there are some potential complications if you do that - since you are not the borrower of record, they will not ever be willing to discuss the loan with you if ever there is a problem, nor will they give you a payoff statement if you did want to sell or refinance, and the tax benefit of the interest payments cannot be claimed by you.

[isabel]

My only concern would be that your wills are up to date. In case something happens to him, you'd want to make sure the house goes directly to you without having to go through probate. I don't know much about it at all, because we don't own a home yet, but I know that this can be an issue.

Also, I freaking adore your doggy! I recently have a really strong urge to adopt an older basset (we have two beagles).

[my4girls]

I am the only one on our current mortgage and will be the only one on the new mortgage

[Lilac]

Sept 28, 2012 10:41:58 GMT -5 flygirl said:

I'm the only one on the mortgage, as I bought before H and I were married. If your H were to die, you would need to refinance the mortgage into your name or pay it off (get life insurance if you don't already have some). As long as you are on the title you should be ok.

I'm the only one on our mortgage (DH is on the title) and this is what our loan officer told us. If the mortgage holder dies, you need to refinance because the original mortgage is based on that person's income.

[maddiepaddy]

Thanks, everyone. This is helpful, but I'm still not sure what I want to do. Hopefully nothing will ever happen to H, but it would really suck to be forced to refinance at a much higher rate down the road. I guess it's kind of a gamble either way....

nhahn: Bassets are the best! I really want a basset puppy someday - sooo cute. Beagles are fun too, I bet two are a handful!

[sjh722]

Sept 28, 2012 11:27:47 GMT -5 maddiepaddy said:

Thanks, everyone. This is helpful, but I'm still not sure what I want to do. Hopefully nothing will ever happen to H, but it would really suck to be forced to refinance at a much higher rate down the road. I guess it's kind of a gamble either way....

Do you have life insurance? We planned for enough to pay off the mortgage, if needed, if something were to happen to H when we had only his name on the loan.

[Some Funny Name]

I am the only one on our mortgage because we got the best rate that way. We are both on the title. DH could either re-fi or pay it off if I died.

[maddiepaddy]

Sept 28, 2012 12:08:18 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

Do you have life insurance? We planned for enough to pay off the mortgage, if needed, if something were to happen to H when we had only his name on the loan.

He has a small amount of life insurance now, one year of salary, which would make a large dent in the mortgage balance. We will definitely have more coverage before we TTC in a year or so. But, after thinking about it, I wouldn't be very likely to want to stay in the house in the event something happened, especially before we have kids.

[thatgirl]

There CAN be lot of cons depending on the exact wording on the mortgage and the state you live in. Death, divorce, legal matters, tax matter and so on can and do happen. Lenders and laws have caught on to the title (ownership) benefits without financial burden.

[Deleted]

At the time we purchased the home dh had variable income (commission-based) so he is on the title but not on the mortgage.

We each have life insurance in excess of the amount we owe on the mortgage. That way if I die he can pay the whole thing off and visa versa.