Utilities in Joint name - PA

[Bethy]

Second marriage for both. Two years of VERY rocky marriage. He has his Townhouse in NJ just in his hame but we live in my Townhouse in PA that is just in my name. His TH has been vacant (uninhabitable) for 2 years while we've been working on it. Next month is daughter, her bf and her 2 sons will be moving in and be paying him rent.

Once that happens, hubby will be helping me pay the bills but said he wants some of the utilities in his or joint names so that he feels like he "belongs" (we have been in couseling since month 2). All bills come to my house in my name.

Hubby has horrible (500 FICO is lenient) credit and I've taken out/paid loans (I have 750 FICO) to get his house out of foreclosure. He currently has a few liens on the house and has about 10k judgements from before we were married that I didn't know about prior. He is not eligible for any type of credit. He stated he was going to pay me back -- that was supposed to happen 2 years ago.

Is there any legal ramification if I add his name to the utility bills? Will he have any more "claim" to the house if I die? I know I'm still responsible for the bills and I don't have an issue with that -- I also don't want anybody putting any lien on 'my' bills because our names are listed together.

 

[FarmerJ]

Being listed on a utility bill will not create any kind of legal interest in real estate , instead I suggest if he doesnt have any unpaid utility bills anywhere there is no harm in adding him on to the phone and electric or gas bill. View it as a experiment where you moniter him paying them from his own check book ( that is if you do not have a joint acct with him) and watch how he does , and for you to assist him with managing the rental property so this way you are able assist building up a cash reserve X % of rent collected to pay repairs and maint cost, and enough to perhaps use it to repay loans made by you. BTW if he is going to rent it to his adult child there really needs to be a lease signed including late fees & deposit even though its not a good choice to rent to family if one is going to do it then a written lease is a must. ( if he says no to you assisting him with managing the books for the rental then treat it as a red flag) while you quietly consult with a divorce atty to learn where you stand financially with issues like community property and the money you loaned him. WHY consult with a divorce atty , because if nothing else you will have information as to what to expect/ options if it ends up going that route.

 

[ecmst12]

She'd better not have any joint accounts with him if he's got outstanding judgements....