Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maryland
wills
I married my husband in 1997. He owned the home that we live in before we were married. I rented an apartment prior to our marriage and moved in with him when we got married. He is 8 years older than me but we are both middle aged (he is 53 I am 46). He has the deed to the house in his name only. Once we were married, my salary (I have worked full time the entire time we have been married) was direct deposited into a joint checking account which he opened. His salary is also deposited in the account. He earns about 2 times what I do. My name is on the account and all of the household expenses (mortage, insurance, utilities, food, travel, entertainment, clothes etc) are paid from this account. I want to draft a will so that I would obtain posession of the house if he dies. He is not in favor of this and said ''According to the laws of this state, you would get the house anyway''. We both have access to a savings account with about $30,000 and a checking account with $12,000. He has stocks and bonds from 401k plans (as do I). I think it is a good idea to have it in writing what the disposition of our assets will be when one of us dies. We have no children. Do you think that this is unreasonable of me to ask this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: wills
A will would work, but a better alternative would be if your husband deeded the house to both him and you as "tenants by the entirety". This is a form of joint property available to husband and wife only. One important benefit of this joint ownership is that creditors of only one of the spouses can't attack the house to satisfy their debts. Also, assuming your husband is the first to die (I know, it's kind of morbid considering such matters, but that's how it goes), the house would instantly become yours alone by operation of law. There would be no wait for the probate process to resolve creditor's claims, etc., before the house would be transferred to you. There are more benefits, but that's good for starters. Both of you should have wills anyway, but using tenancy by the entirety for home ownership is usually a good thing to take advantage of.
Re: wills
Seems he has other plans that make your ideas appear unreasonable. You need to think about why.
A Last Will and Testament is a good idea. Titling the real property as T by E is advised; once again this depends on how each of you see things. He may not want to deed the property as T by E due to fear of a future divorce.
Other options exist. You should speak with an attorney.
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