Yes. A married person can buy a Michigan home and take title in their name alone: Michigan abolished dower effective April 6, 2017, and it is not a community property state, so no law requires your spouse to sign the purchase agreement, the deed or a mortgage that pays for the purchase. What buying alone does not do is end your spouse's rights in a divorce or at your death, and a later mortgage on a home you share still needs both signatures.
This guide explains the Michigan rules in plain terms. It is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, talk with a real estate attorney before you sign.
What changed when Michigan abolished dower?
Until 2017, Michigan law gave a wife dower: a surviving widow's right to a life interest in one-third of the land her husband owned during the marriage. Because of it, a wife signed the deed or mortgage whenever her husband sold or borrowed against land in his name, to release that right.
2016 Public Act 489 added MCL 558.30, which abolishes a wife's dower right, both by statute and at common law. It took effect on April 6, 2017. Two exceptions remain, both for widows whose husbands died before that date: a dower already elected, and the right to elect it under the estates code (MCL 700.2202). Two companion acts passed with it, Public Acts 378 and 490 of 2016, took dower out of divorce judgments and limited it in the estates code to husbands who died before that date.
For a buyer today, that means the old reason a spouse had to sign is gone.
Can a married person put a house in only their name?
Yes. The seller signs the deed, and the deed names whoever is buying. If that is you alone, the home is titled to you alone. Your spouse does not sign the purchase agreement or the deed.
Michigan is a common law property state, not a community property state. The IRS lists the nine community property states as Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. In those states, much of what a married person acquires belongs to both spouses by law. Michigan has no such rule, so the deed decides who owns the home while you are married.
Does my spouse have to sign the mortgage?
For the loan that pays for the home, Michigan law does not require it. Michigan's homestead exemption statute, MCL 600.6023(1)(g), says a mortgage on a married owner's homestead is not valid without the spouse's signature, with two exceptions: a mortgage given for all or part of the purchase money, and a mortgage that has been on record for 25 years without a notice of a claim that it is invalid.
So:
- The mortgage you take out to buy the home is purchase money. Michigan law does not require your spouse's signature on it.
- A later mortgage on the home you both live in, such as a refinance or a home equity loan, is not purchase money. That mortgage needs your spouse's signature, even if the home is titled to you alone.
Lenders and title companies set their own requirements on top of the law. Ask your lender and the title company early what they will need from your spouse, if anything, so nothing surprises you at the closing table.
What buying alone does not change
Title in one name decides who owns the home while you are married. It does not decide everything.
- Divorce. Michigan's divorce law lets the court divide the real and personal property that came to either spouse by reason of the marriage, or order one spouse to pay the other its value (MCL 552.19). A home bought during the marriage can be divided even if only one name is on the deed. A family law attorney can tell you how a court is likely to treat yours.
- Death. A home in your name alone passes under your will, or under Michigan's intestacy rules if you have none. Your spouse still has rights: an intestate share (MCL 700.2102) and, if you leave a will, the right to elect against it and take part of the intestate share instead (MCL 700.2202). An estate planning attorney can explain how this applies to you.
- Selling later. If you sell the home while it is titled to you alone, the deed no longer needs your spouse's signature to release dower. Ask your title company what it will require, especially if the two of you live in the home.
How spouses hold title together: tenancy by the entirety
If you want both names on the deed, Michigan gives married couples a form of ownership of their own: tenancy by the entirety.
- Michigan's general rule is that a deed to two or more people makes them tenants in common unless it says joint tenancy (MCL 554.44). That rule does not apply to a husband and wife (MCL 554.45).
- Spouses who hold a home by the entirety have equal rights to it and to the income it produces (MCL 557.71).
- When one spouse dies, the home passes to the other outside probate. Michigan's estates code counts it among the property a surviving spouse takes through "tenancy by the entireties" (MCL 700.2202(7)).
- Either spouse can end the tenancy by deeding their interest to the other (MCL 557.101). A divorce turns it into a tenancy in common, unless the judgment says who gets the home (MCL 552.102).
The title company or your attorney writes the deed's wording. If you want ownership by the entirety, say so before closing.
Can I add my spouse to the deed later?
Yes, with a new deed. For property tax purposes, a transfer from one spouse to the other, or one that creates or ends a tenancy by the entirety between spouses, is not a "transfer of ownership" (MCL 211.27a(7)(a) and (b)). So adding your spouse does not uncap the home's taxable value the way a sale does. Our guide to property tax uncapping explains what uncapping is. A new deed is a legal document: have an attorney or your title company prepare it.
The principal residence exemption for married buyers
The Principal Residence Exemption lowers the property tax on the home its owner lives in, and you claim it with your city or township assessor after you buy. A married couple who file, or must file, a joint Michigan income tax return get no more than one exemption between them (MCL 211.7cc(3)). If the home is in your name alone, you are the owner who files the affidavit for it.
Get advice for your situation
Whether to title a home alone or together is a personal decision, and the right choice depends on your finances, your estate plans and any agreement between the two of you. A real estate attorney can walk through them with you, and the State Bar of Michigan's Lawyer Referral Service can help you find one.
Start the search
Whose name goes on the deed is settled with your attorney and the title company before closing, not when you write the offer. If you are ready to look, tell us the cities and price range, or get new listings by email while you sort out the details. Our step-by-step guide to buying in Metro Detroit covers the rest of the process.
