My wife isn't listed on the title for our house. Do I need to add her before we sell?

The short answer is, it should be un-necessary. A more detailed discussion follows.

The party listed on the deed would have full signature authority to sell the property. It is not unusual for couples to have separate property, and to manage them as such. You can purchase your replacement home with your spouse on title, and things will be as you apparently want them to be.

I assume you probably purchased the property prior to marriage, and I also assume you are telling the entire story, and are not having to sell as part of a divorce proceeding.

One complicating factor for divorce situations: If you live in a 'community property' state such as California, and are going through a divorce, your spouse may be entitled to half of the proceeds upon sale, even if she is not on the title. In divorce proceedings, attorneys will take a keen interest in protecting their client's property rights in sorting out who-gets-what. The final judgement could split sales proceeds 50/50, even though only one of you is listed on the deed. This would be especially true if you had common financial accounts and co-mingled your finances to service the payments, taxes, insurance, etcetera. In a community property state, everything acquired during marriage is considered community property unless you have taken the necessary steps to keep assets (such as inherited property) separate, and took the necessary steps to show that was your intent.

This depends upon your state law, and it is hard to generalize as you see from the discussion above. If you are not trying something sneaky, and all is good with your partner, It would appear that there would be no reason to add your wife prior to sale, even though it is easy to do.

I can think of one situation where you might want your spouse on title prior to sale, and that is to qualify for the capital gains exclusion. It is only $250,000 for a single taxpayer, and $500,000 for a couple. So if the proceeds were say $400,000, it would be best to have both names on the deed so you could clearly qualify all of the proceeds for the capital gains exclusion. Otherwise you would be facing a tax liability situation.

I would question why you would want to sell into the headwind of this existing market, if something wasn't forcing you to do so. I understand that there are times when there just isn't anything else to be done, but I would expect a long and very bumpy road ahead.

Best of luck.

No. Not at all.
Explain to your solicitor when you sell (which may well be a long time due to the terrible market conditions) and he will draft the contract of sale in your name.
Adding her would be pointless. It will take weeks to do and wont achieve anything. When the sale goes through then put the money into a joint account and buy your next house in both names (if thats what you want).

absolutely not.

no reason to add her now before you sell the place. get youself an attorney and he can walk you through the process of what you need to have to close.

all you will be doing with regards to title, is tranfering it over to the new owners. it has no barring as to who actually lived in the home @ all. it will be easier on everyone to have as few people on title as possible.

you'll be fine buddy...

Absolutely not.
If she was on the original loan she would have also been on the title.
That is really a personal decision, but she does NOT have to be.

You may want to investigate the laws on selling in your state. Some say that if your married, it's one to buy, two to sell. If because you're married, she will have to sign any purchase agreement. As for the deed, there is no law that states she must be on the deed/title.

NO need to add her before sale of house. All that does is add the the cost of the sale.

Dont know where these ansewrs are coming from but in the U.S., Provided that you were married before the purchase of that house, she MUST be on the title at least as a non borrower. If the house was yours before the marriage, it's not necessary. The law already recognizes that has a 50% interest in the property. Back to the first part of this answer: If you were married before the purchase and she isnt on title, the title company screwed up and it will be rectified for free.

no! in fact unless you are completely sure of her and you marrige lie about what you got and keep it all in the name of a trusted friend, cover your ***. men don't stand a chance in court when it comes to divorces and some times all it take is a few bucks to make her think that she can leave you and do better. don't be a shmuck keep her broke and she will stay faithful.

see your realtor
sounds like you do

Unless you're a greedy person, yes, or just give the money to her and not.

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