Buying a house with someone you’re not married to comes with legal implications, especially in Georgia.
Buying a home is one of the biggest financial commitments you’ll ever make. So, it’s no wonder that taking the financial plunge of homebuying with someone you don’t have a long-term commitment with is risky. Unless you know how to avoid the potential pitfalls, buying a house with someone you’re not married to could be a costly mistake.
Let’s take a look into the legal rights of unmarried couples and the legal implications of buying a house with someone you’re not married to.
The biggest risk of buying a house with someone you’re not married to is the possibility of the relationship coming to an end.
The law is skewed towards married couples, so “cohabitating” couples are at a disadvantage—this is particularly true of property. It does not matter how long you have lived together; marital property laws do not apply if you are not married, even in long-term relationships.
There are rules and regulations concerning the split of property in the case of a divorce. However, if you are not legally married, none of the legal protections that would come into play during a divorce apply to your situation. Thus, buying a house with someone you’re not married to is strongly discouraged due to the potential long-term harm to your finances should the relationship end.
What is cohabitation?
Cohabitation is when two people are living together but are not legally wed. In some states, cohabitation can be prosecuted as a violation of adultery laws. However, in Georgia, that is not the case.
According to state statute, cohabitation is defined as “dwelling together continuously and openly in a meretricious relationship with another person, regardless of the sex of the other person.”
Today, more and more couples live together, or cohabitate, before they marry. Many couples live together indefinitely without getting married at all. Most unmarried couples accumulate a great deal of shared property but fail to consider how the property will be divided if the relationship ends.
The reality is that no matter how long the relationship lasts, where property is concerned, the law still effectively treats the couple as separate individuals with no rights or responsibilities if the relationship ends.
So, what should you do?
As an unmarried couple, you should buy real estate singularly and, if you wish to, add your spouse to the deed after marriage.
You Need to Talk to an Lawyer
If you are considering buying a house with someone you’re not married to, make sure you speak with an experienced real estate attorney to weigh all of your options first. While buying a house with your partner can feel like an exciting new chapter at the time, the dissolution of the relationship will undoubtedly be more complicated if you own a home together.