Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey
transferring home
I want to transfer 1/2 of my home to my girlfriend which is mortgage free. How would we do this? Can we just use the Quitclaim deed from your site? And what are the repercussions? thanks
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: transferring home
you need to talk to a lawyer.
issues which come to mind which might hurt you: gift tax;
who has duty to pay utilities, taxes, etc;
who gets proceeds when you sell?
more than all that, you should not give half of your house to your girlfriend until you have reviewed all of the impact with an attorney.
this is NOT a complete review of the impacts that this transfer will have.
go see a lawyer, please.
Re: transferring home
You should reconsider and you should definitly not do this without consulting a lawyer.
First, consider that your girlfriend would be getting more in that transaction than she would if you married her. Second, you will have to pay gift tax on the value of the interest in the house that you are giving her if it exceeds $10,000. Third, if she ceases to be your girlfriend, she will still own half the house, can sue you for partition, force the sale of the house, and leave with her half. Love is blind, but you shouldn't be.
See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm