Adding your wife/partner's name to the existing mortgage

LovelyDublin

Hi there,

I did a big mistake by not adding my wife's name to our mortgage. The reasons: She doesn't work and I thought it's just going to be an extra work for doing paper work and other stuff!

When I went to my solicitor she told me about this mistake! Now I'm not sure what's the best options to add her name to the mortgage.

Do the banks add new name to the existing mortgage ?

Is it a good idea to buy a life insurance for my wife and assign it to that mortgage? Is it possible?

Gusser09

Why is it a mistake?

LovelyDublin

Two reasons:

In case if I die my wife should do legal paper work and also pay money to the solicitor. And also in case if my wife die, there isn't assigned life insurance (for my wife) to the mortgage to pay off the mortgage.

By having joint application you can just buy one joint life insurance and assign it to your mortgage.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120979401#Comment_120979401

You can buy her life cover anyway.

I really cant see the benefit of going to the hassle of it now. Just do a will too to be safe.

LovelyDublin

Thanks for your response.

Should I tell the insurance company I need this life cover for mortgage?

How much does it cost to ask a solicitor to write a will?

GerardKeating

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120979401#Comment_120979401

The cost/hasstle of adding your wife's name to the mortgage now, and after you pass, would be about the same, so no real advanatage, plus adding her now will need the lenders permission.

Just ensure you do a will, and get seperate life cover, and there is no real difference.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120980206#Comment_120980206

Not sure on the cost of a will. Be surprised if its more than a few hundred quid. You can do that re the life policy yes.

Do you have a policy for yourself with your Mortgage provider? If so I'd imagine you are paying over the odds. You could look at ending this and taking out a policy with your wife for the same cover. Much cheaper over the course of your mortgage.

Q&A

How did you manage to do this is in the first place? Is the marriage recognised in Ireland?

Being married infers legal rights to the spouse. Most if not all mortgage lenders will want to jointly assess a married couple for this reason.

In saying all that I don't see any benefit in adding her to the mortgage if you've already have one. Assuming you don't have a will that writes your wife out of your estate, she would be entitled to inherit the same share in the house regardless of her status on the mortgage. There shouldn't be any tax implications on the inheritance of a house from one spouse to the other either.

By all means take out a life policy for her but seeing as you already have a mortgage you don't need to assign it to the mortgage lender. The only reason to consider doing this is if you think you couldn't be trusted with the payout.

LovelyDublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120980797#Comment_120980797

The thing is they don't accept joint life insurance for single mortgages. Do they? If they accept, I should get a new joint life insurance and assign it to my mortgage?

LovelyDublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120981621#Comment_120981621

Thanks for the clarification. I'm an immigrant but they requested for all my marriage documents. They only said talk to your solicitor before going for a single mortgage.(I didn't do that!)

herbalplants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984989#Comment_120984989

What are you trying to achieve?

You are married so automatically your wife is entitled to half even without being on the mortgage. You can do up a will, doesn't cost much.

surrender monkey

Op you can easily put your wife's name on the house it's called a voluntary transfer and your solicitor can do it easily for you. Or you could do a will transferring your interest in the house to her in the event of your death. If you don't do either of these things and you have children then in the event of your death your wife would get two thirds of the house and your children would inherit one third divided equally between them which is not ideal especially if they are under 18 at the time.

You can't add a name to a mortgage after executing the document. The mortgage is registered against the property and remains as is until the term expires or you buy it out early. If you plan to remortgage in the future you could make a joint application and of course buy joint life assurance. A good workaround to your issue would be to do a voluntary transfer which would put your wife's name on the title to your property and for your wife to take out take out a life insurance policy for the sum owing on the mortgage that would pay out to you in the event of her death. Your life assurance policy would pay out and clear the mortgage in the event of your death.

LovelyDublin

Thanks for your response. It's good to know about other options.

For now I've decided to go ahead with taking out a life insurance for my wife and also do a will. I wanted to take out a joint life insurance but it seems the price will be the same. Is 48 Euro per month is good for two separate policy ? Does the monthly price depend on mortgage amount? Ours is 410,000 . One of my friends took out a joint one 1.5 years ago for 20 Euro per month! Same compnay - Zurich . but the Mortgage amount is less than ours.

Really appreciate everyone's help here.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120988205#Comment_120988205

The wife is not automatically entitled to half simply by virtue of being married. She can veto a sale, that's all.

surrender monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120995095#Comment_120995095

Life assurance is related to the mortgage amount and the amount that will be paid out in the event of a successful claim reduces inline with the amount which is outstanding on the mortgage. You will already have had to take out and maintain a life assurance policy as a condition of drawing down your mortgage.

Life insurance is a different product altogether. You should get advice from an insurance broker

tobefrank321

Its also possible your wife's name will not be on the deeds of the house if she isn't on the mortgage, although people have different opinions on this.

Make sure her name is on the deeds, otherwise it could be tricky in case of separation or death of one partner. You need to think of all eventualities.

LovelyDublin

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences here.

My broker says it's better to get a life insurance and serious illness cover (150,000 + 35,000). I get confused, Can I have a mortgage protection in her name for her? (to cover the mortgage amount)