Buying a house without a marriage certificate: what couples need to pay attention to

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Wednesday, November 28, 2018

You do not have to get married to buy a property together. Who buys without a marriage certificate, but should remember: There are other rules than married couples. Read here what matters.

Marriage, home and child – this triad no longer applies in the life projects of many couples. Even without a marriage certificate, families or life partners buy a property together. "For unmarried couples, but at the time of death or separation, the legal situation is different from that of married couples," warns Alexander Krolzik of Consumer Center Hamburg. When buying a home, unmarried people should know what to expect.

The most important difference: after marriage, family law is applicable, which governs, for example, the death of a partner's inheritance. "An unmarried partner is, however, legal only as a third party," Krolzik explains.

Who is the owner?

In a separation, there are no rules for the distribution of badets for unmarried, even if they were purchased jointly. "When buying a property, each partner should be aware that he has only rights to the property, even if he is registered as a landlord. in the land register, "said Julia Wagner of the landlords' badociation, Land & Land Germany.

Therefore, buyers should always ask themselves two questions: who owns the property, how do they finance it? And what will happen to a possible separation or death of a partner with the property?

The first question has everything. Different parts of the funding can be reflected in the land register. Half of the partners can be registered as owners or with different proportions. "To do this, couples need to know from the outset if they want the property to belong to them at the end or in different proportions," Krolzik emphasizes. For this purpose, the remaining funding can then be regulated. "Maybe one partner will spend more at the beginning, while the other will take more funds – in the end, they will each hold half."

The partnership agreement makes sense

Britta Beate Schön, legal expert at the Finanztip consumer portal, advises Britta Beate Schön. "Here are all the purchase agreements, as well as the rules that separate in case of separation or death, but the couple can also accept the contract and give it the form of a marriage contract."

An alternative is to found a civil law company (GbR). The social contract is less comprehensive and is limited to how partners regulate the joint acquisition of the property and how they want to hear about a possible separation or death.

In contracts, the partners therefore constrain the question of who contributes to what equity or what type of self-employment, who finances a loan of an amount and for what proportion of the loan each partner is liable. "The bank is insisting that both partners sign the loan agreement, so it has two borrowers who are responsible to the bank for the total amount," says Schön. Even after the separation, the moving partner does not usually leave the loan agreement. Without appropriate agreements, it must take off in the worst case and continue to finance the property.

Therefore, it is important to include in the contract the end of the relationship. In times of prosperity, partners must agree who, for example, can stay in the house or apartment and whether the other partner receives compensation for it. "After a separation, the ex-partners have different interests," warns Wagner. "They have not agreed and can not agree on what should happen at home, threatening in the worst case, a divestment bid., So let's lose all pages. "

Observe the legal succession

In any case, the partners must try to exclude a dividend bid from the contract. Krolzik also recommends to agree in advance how the value of the property should be determined in case of breakage and how the couple wishes to spread the funds when selling one to the other. 39; another. In the exact design of the contract, future owners should seek legal advice.

If a partner dies, the legal estate basically works – a partner without a marriage certificate will be left empty handed. The share of the property inherits, in the best of cases, children common to the couple, but perhaps also children from a previous relationship or parents of the partner.

If nothing is regulated, it may happen that the partner's parents inherit from one part of the house, but that the other partner has to manage alone the loan installments. "For the death, the partners absolutely need a will in which they inherit one from the other of their property," Schön said.

Non-married couples, however, are subject to a high inheritance tax, and loved ones continue to receive a mandatory portion. It is therefore also possible to give the partner a right of residence for life or a right of first refusal.

"If you have to pay the heirs, it can be a heavy burden," says Krolzik. He therefore recommends that you also purchase end of life insurance as a joint life insurance policy. Thus, after the death of a loved one without inheritance tax, the partner receives an amount with which he can pay the heirs or repay the loan.

Source: n-tv.de