In today’s modern world it has become increasingly common for women to keep their own names when getting married and it often happens that women have bought their own homes before marrying.
Between divorces (where a woman reverts to her maiden name or keeps her married name after divorce), buying property in a maiden name (for women), and buying after marriage but in different names, there is sometimes some confusion when wanting to sell the property, says Lanice Steward, MD of Anne Porter Knight Frank.
“Basically, it is very simple, if a woman buys a property in a maiden name and she wishes to sell that property at a later stage, she must sign the agreement either in her married name, with a copy of the marriage certificate attached to the sales agreement or sign the document in her maiden name,” said Steward.
“Legally both these names are valid as they have been given to her,” she said.
“If you take a double barrelled surname, keep your maiden name and add on your husband’s name, you can either sign the double barrelled name or the maiden name.”
“There are three scenarios for women when marrying: retention of the maiden name, assuming the husband’s name or assuming a double barrelled surname and in the case of divorce, she can either revert to her maiden name or keep the married name.
No matter what option she chooses, she does not have to change the Title Deeds, but just continue as is, said Steward.
“All of these signatures are acceptable, women have various options available to them, as long as whatever name she signs is backed up by either a marriage or divorce certificate if the name is different to the name on the Title Deed,” said Steward.
