Can you add someone to your mortgage without refinancing?

If you’ve recently married, and you are merging your finances and assets, you may be wondering if you need to add your spouse’s name to your mortgage and whether it can be done without refinancing. The short answer to both questions is no. 

Adding your spouse’s name to your mortgage has no real effect on their entitlement to the property or whether they can contribute to the loan.

It also isn’t possible to add someone new to your mortgage without refinancing the loan as the bank will have to assess their income before they make them liable for the mortgage debt.

Keep in mind that a mortgage does not imply ownership over a property, which is instead denoted by a land title.

One potential advantage of adding your partner to your mortgage would be if you need your partner’s income in order to borrow more money when you refinance your home loan. For couples planning to start a family and upgrade their home or move to a pricier location, taking on a larger mortgage may be necessary to fund this process.

If you are planning on refinancing your loan and adding your partner, then you may want to make sure you’re still getting a good deal on your mortgage. You could use this as an opportunity to do a quick mortgage health check for your interest rate, the fees you’re paying and the features you want to have access to. Chances are, if it’s been a while since you took out the loan, your lifestyle may have changed and your loan requirements along with it.

You may want to investigate fixing your rate for the first couple of years to secure some financial stability for your newly married life. Or perhaps you want to take some time off work to travel together, or to start a family, and you could benefit from a repayment holiday or interest-only period.

You may think that having your spouse’s name on the mortgage for the property will demonstrate their ownership. But the truth is, just because a person is listed on a mortgage, does not mean that they immediately have ownership. This would require their name being on the title deed.

If there is a relationship breakdown in future and the property has to be split as part of divorce proceedings, whether or not your partner’s name was on the mortgage may be of little value. While each case will be different, if you and your spouse have been sharing the home, they will be entitled to declare an “interest” in the property. Legal advice should be sought in all matters of this nature if you require more information.

For de facto couples, property settlements following a split will take into account a multitude of factors, much like in a divorce. These can include whether formal or informal financial assistance was given by one partner to the other, but it will not require the partner’s name to be on the mortgage as proof of this assistance.