Question: My husband got a reverse mortgage on our home three years ago. At the time, I was under the age limit of 62 and was not part of the loan. He recently passed away. Will the reverse mortgage company force me to sell my house?
Answer: Due to an age limit for reverse mortgage borrowers (62 years old), many couples find themselves on both sides of the age threshold. In such cases, lenders use only the older spouse as the borrower. Leaving you off the loan didn’t seem like a problem, but now is causing you anxiety.
Fortunately, reverse mortgage loans, underwritten after August 4, 2014, allow surviving non-borrower spouses, like yourself, to remain in the home.
Some limitations and responsibilities include:
1) surviving spouses must continue to pay property taxes and insurance premiums;
2) marriages established after the loan are not protected;
3) surviving spouses can no longer take disbursements from reverse mortgage equity lines (though experts believe equity lines will be tapped dry in the days before the borrowing spouse’s death).
Are your finances in order in the event that a spouse passes away? Contact Priority Law to set up a consultation.
This article was originally published in the Lowell Sun and is for informational purposes only and not to be relied on as legal advice, in any manner.