I am married and live here in Texas. I have a rental property that I’m selling that is deeded in my name only. The property is free and clear and there is no reference to my wife anywhere. The buyer’s attorney is telling me that I need to get my wife to sign off on the transfer of the deed or have paperwork written up that she needs to sign that will waive any rights to homestead, which he said would cost some additional fees. He said that if she does not sign, there would be a cloud on the title. If this correct?
Need the answer to several questions. If you bought property while married then your wife will have to sign the deed if you bought it with community property income or money. If you inherited the money from your realitives or have been making investments with money that you brought into the marriage and separated it and bought the income property as separate property then you can deed it as a married man owning separate property. It is a legal hastle but it can be done that way. Odds that you wife will need to sign if you did not set up a separate account for your separate assets if you had any.
Happy Hollidays and Thank you,
In Texas, it’s always easier to have the spouse sign off on anything. Really can prevent unforseen problems.
And even if you bought the property before you married, your wife may have acquired a community interest in the property if you used any community funds to pay the mortgage or other expenses relating to the house.
It is my practice to have husband and wife both sign anything and everything that has to do with real estate, no matter what. Community property is a weird beast, and it can bite you if you’re not careful.
You are exactly right Drew. Community property laws in Texas have tied up a ton of transactions.
she should sign a quit claim deed to give up any interest she may have in the property.
Now anothe question may come up…
If you are married and setup a LLC to hold rental/investment properties, does your wife have to sing off on this?
Does she have to be on LLC too since it hold real estate titles?
She doesn’t have to be a member or manager of the LLC, but she should probably ‘sign off’ on it anyway… we have an addendum we use called a ‘spousal joinder.’