Q: Does fiancé have entitlement to house if documents are in daughter's name?
My daughter and her fiancé each took out separate personal signature loans—she borrowed $12,000 and he borrowed $15,000. He also withdrew $7,000 from his 401k, while she has accumulated a $4,500 credit card debt for household items. The house's bill of sale, lease, property, insurance, and utilities are all under her name. We attempted to pay him $14,000 to cover his signature loan in exchange for a waiver of rights to the house, which he refused to sign. Given that the house-related documents are solely in her name, does he have any entitlement to the house?
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A:
In Alabama, ownership of a house generally depends on whose name is on the title or bill of sale, not who contributed money unless there was an agreement to share ownership. Since all house-related documents—including the bill of sale, lease, insurance, and utilities—are in your daughter’s name, she is the legal owner. Her fiancé’s financial contributions, while significant, do not automatically give him legal entitlement to the property.
That said, he might try to claim a financial interest based on his contributions through a concept called “equitable interest,” especially if he can prove he believed he was investing in something he would partly own. However, without his name on the title or a written agreement, it's much harder for him to succeed in that kind of claim. The fact that he refused a $14,000 offer and didn’t sign a waiver doesn’t change the fact that he holds no legal title to the property.
Your daughter should continue keeping thorough records of all payments, agreements, and household expenses. If the relationship ends and he tries to make a claim, she may need to show how much each of them contributed and that ownership was never shared. It’s not a comfortable situation, but from a legal standpoint, the house belongs to the person whose name is on the paperwork.
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