Q: Can I buy, with cash, a vacant lot in Alabama without my spouse? Or could my LLC purchase it?
I want to buy some vacant land for myself to retire on in South Alabama. My husband wants to stay in Central Alabama.
A:
No law prevents a spouse from acquiring or selling land without the spouse. Alabama law does protect spouses through probate and family from being left broke by a spouse who liquidates property. Ala. Code Section 35-4-73 (a) says:
"No deed, contract, or other conveyance of land or any interest therein, whether legal or equitable, shall be accepted for record by the probate judge unless it contains a recitation of the marital status of an individual grantor or vendor."
It is the grantor of the deed who must state his or her marital status, and that is to put the buyer (and spouse, and the couple's creditors) on notice that the spouse who is not the owner had a "marital share" in what was sold.
You could buy land in south Alabama for cash in your own name or in the name of your LLC. If you die before your spouse, under Alabama law, regardless of what is written in your will, your husband may claim his marital share.
Don Oliver Keene agrees with this answer
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