Buy your house without being married: Take your precautions

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""""You are going to buy a house together, great that! But by the way, are you married?""""This is a better question.In fact, not that much.Because for legal cohabitants or cohabitants, the terms and consequences of a real estate purchase are not the same as for married couples.

Take the script from the start and let's slide some tips and warnings.

The notary Renaud Grégoire notes that """"the newlyweds generally have a fairly precise and successful idea of the life project they intend to carry out, while others are considering a common real estate purchase as an alternative project for marriage.A commitment, of course, but which is considered less restrictive and less irreversible.""""

Provided you have prepared the land well from the start!Because who imagines a black scenario?Now this is precisely what should be done.Make arrangements to protect yourself in the event of separation or death.

Financing of the acquisition

""""Buyers who contract mortgage together are jointly and indivisibly linked. Ils sont donc tous deux susceptibles de subir les conséquences (intérêts de retard, fichage à la BNB) d’un éventuel retard de paiement"""", explique Valéry Halloy, porte-parole de BNPParibas Fortis.

""""If the purchase is made by legal cohabitants, both must intervene as debtor-benficiary. Sur demande, toutefois, si un partenaire finance sa part sur fonds propres, il interviendra en qualité d’affectant hypothécaire, tandis que l’acquéreur/propriétaire qui a besoin d’un prêt sera considéré comme débiteur-bénéficiaire"""" détaille-t-il.

""""If the purchase is made by de facto cohabitants, in equal parts, each of them can intervene as a debtor-benefit.The reimbursement capacity can be considered that of a household, whether for home credit or their common credits.Their own credits should be taken up in their own reimbursement capacities.""""

What if a partner has a higher contribution?

""""Based on the principles of solidarity and indivisibility, we cannot share the credit between the partners. Par contre, un accord de partage peut être formalisé chez un notaire"""", indique Valéry Halloy.

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— Shannon Hennig, SLT/SLP Wed Mar 03 05:58:18 +0000 2021

In general, partners are advised not to buy in different proportions (30% -70% for example), especially for family housing.The "minority" partner "may not really feel at home in such a configuration, while both will invest 100% in this project. """"Il est préférable d’acquérir à 50/50 et de faire établir une convention notifiant les différences de mise de fonds (en prévoyant éventuellement des intérêts). C’est simple et sain, et cela permet de verrouiller l’investissement"""", conseille le notaire Grégoire.

In case of separation

""""In the event of separation, if one of the partners wishes to be dissociated, he must make the request.The bank will check whether the credit can be continued on the basis of the reimbursement capacity of the remaining borrower.In the negative, the two will remain loudly and indivisibly held to reimbursement. Mais rien ne les empêche de convenir entre eux de qui remboursera le crédit"""", précise Valéry Halloy.

Quand on achète en indivision sans être mariés, il faut prévoir les modalités de sortie"""", met en garde Gilles Tijtgat. """"Un couple marié achète d’autorité en indivision (on n’a pas le choix, NDLR), alors que des cohabitants achètent volontairement en indivision. Or, le principe selon lequel """"nul n’est censé rester en indivision"""" est apprécié différemment par les tribunaux, suivant que l’indivision est forcée ou volontaire"""".This is much less automatically.

In more than 90% of cases, partners do not have the same equity contribution.It is therefore essential to ask the notary to establish an agreement which specifies the details of the financing of the operation (which has put how much) for the accounts to be clear the day the relationship ends.here's why.

For married couples under the community regime, there is a reward mechanism. """"Si l’un des partenaires a investi 100.000 euros de plus dans le projet, il les récupérera d’office à la ‘sortie’ sans qu’il soit nécessaire de faire quoi que ce soit"""", explique Renaud Grégoire.

For married couples in separation of goods and cohabitants, nothing like it is planned, he warns. """"Si les 100.000 euros were invested in the roof, the partner could very well argue that he paid the holidays, the invoices and the races ... It is therefore not because you paid 100.000 euros more to the purchase that you will automatically recover the sum at the exit.

It may also be useful to provide a right of pre -emption for the partner concerned if the couple acquires a family property.

In case of death

The surviving legal cohabitant receives usufruct on family accommodation and furniture that garnished it.But he is not safe from a bad scenario.His partner can indeed very well write a will (in favor of his children, for example) who would deprive him of this usufruct.

For the de facto cohabitant, the situation is even more fragile. """"La part du partenaire prédécédé revient en effet aux héritiers de celui-ci, qui, en cas de mésentente peuvent mettre le partenaire survivant dehors (sortie forcée d’indivision)"""", prévient Gilles Tijtgat.

To avoid a bad scenario, it is possible to provide, in the act of purchase, a tontine clause or increase clause which will allow the surviving partner to benefit from the property in usufruct (most often) or in full ownership.This clause takes precedence over the succession.It is a way of protecting your spouse and granting them priority to children (possibly of a previous union).

If the surviving partner avoids in this case inheritance tax, on the other hand, he will have to pay registration duties (12.5% in Brussels and Wallonia) on the value of half which is received in usufruct or naked-property.

Read also: Who is family accommodation in the event of death?

Please note, in the event of subsequent marriage, this clause could prove to be completely counterproductive.In the three regions of the country, the spouses indeed benefit from the total exemption from the family housing which they inherit. """"Pensez donc, le cas échéant, à modifier cette clause avant de vous marier. Ou mieux, spécifiez dès le départ qu'elle prendra fin le jour du mariage"""", insiste Gilles Tijtgat.

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