MCL 558.30 became effective in April 2017 to abolish dower rights in Michigan. Historically, a husband who owned property separate from his wife, would still have to obtain the wife’s signature on the deed for any subsequent transfer. This is because old dower laws provided a wife the right to use one-third of all real property owned by her husband. This common-law protection was structured to prevent widows from being stripped of their land rights by the untimely deaths of their husbands. As a result of the enactment of MCL 558.30, a wife’s signature is no longer needed on a deed to transfer property owned solely by her husband.
While MCL 558.30 did terminate statutory and common-law dower in Michigan, it did not affect statutory homestead rights that require both spouses to sign a mortgage on a refinance of their principal residence, even if the principal residence is owned by only one spouse. A spouse is not required to sign a mortgage to secure the payment of the purchase money or a portion of the purchase money (i.e. a “purchase money mortgage”). See MCL 600.6023(1)(g)(i) Lenders will still require the spouse that does not own the property to sign a mortgage on the refinance of a home owned solely by the other spouse. Unlike the abolished dower rights that only applied to women, homestead rights apply equally to a husband and wife.
In short, a wife does not need to sign a deed for property owned solely by her husband in order for the husband to transfer ownership of the property. However, lenders will still require the spouse who does not own property to sign a mortgage to refinance if the property owned by the other spouse is the couple’s principal residence and the mortgage is not a purchase money mortgage.
This article was written by Nezar Habhab, Law Clerk.
