In North Carolina, the law requires that both spouses sign a deed to convey marketable title. It isn’t uncommon for spouses to ask why their other spouse must sign when their other spouse wasn’t on the deed; or are a “non-owning” spouse; or it was property acquired before marriage; or this was a gift, devise, or inherited property. The reason that North Carolina law requires each spouse to sign to convey marketable title is each spouse has a marital interest in the real property.
Marital interest in North Carolina in short state that if the owning spouse conveyed real property to another without the other spouse joining in the conveyance, the other spouse will still have a marital interest in said property. The reason why the other spouse has a marital interest in the real property gets into North Carolina estate administration principles. These North Carolina estate administration principles essentially state that the marital interest cannot be exercised during the lifetime of the spouse who owns the property, but rather asserted by the widower spouse once the owning spouse passes away. Therefore, having both spouses sign a deed eliminates any potential marital interest a spouse may have in the future.
There are exceptions of course where one spouse can own property in North Carolina free and clear from their spouse. One exception for example is a free trader agreement, which is signed by both spouses, and it relinquishes the non-owning spouse from any ownership or even marital interests. If you have any questions about marital rights, please contact our law firm.
Realtors, Lenders, and Real Estate Professionals:
Join our NC Real Estate Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/lancasterlawfirm
Interested in Estate Planning? Join our Facebook Group!
Disclaimer
No Attorney-Client Relationship Created by Use of this Website:
Neither your receipt of information from this website nor your use of this website to contact The Lancaster Law Firm or one of its attorneys creates an attorney-client relationship between you and The Lancaster Law Firm. As a matter of policy, The Lancaster Law Firm does not accept a new client without first investigating for possible conflicts of interest and obtaining/sending a signed engagement letter or email correspondence. Accordingly, you should not use this website to provide confidential information about a legal matter of yours to Lancaster Law Firm.
No Legal Advice Intended:
This website includes information about current, past, and future potential legal issues and legal developments for educational purposes only. Such information is provided for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most recent legal developments. Posted information is not intended, and should not be taken, as legal advice for a particular set of circumstances you may be experiencing. You should contact an attorney for advice on specific legal problems.
Comments