According to the website Zillow, there is a surge of unmarried Millennial couples purchasing homes. The numbers have increased 36%: from 11% in 2005 to 15% in 2016. [Millennials range between the ages of 24 and 35.]
This is leading to couples forsaking a marriage license for a pre-nuptial. Within the pre-nuptial document various areas can become very specifically spelled out: the breakdown of finances going into the home purchase, how future home repairs will be paid, and how to divide assets in the event that the relationship were to dissolve.
The title of the home can include both partners, so that financial responsibilities for the home don’t fall on one person.
But in some cases of unmarried couples purchasing a property, they may be defined as “joint tenants,” where they have equal shares of the home and if one partner dies, his or her share is automatically transferred to the other partner.
Still, purchasing a home requires that BOTH parties have good credit scores. In some cases when there are two borrowers applying for the home, a lender will select the partner with the higher of the two scores for the loan decisions.