The House That I Built
I’m a single mom in my 50s with one daughter. I got very lucky in that I bought a home in the Bay Area nearly 30 years ago for around $230K before the tech boom and now the house is worth about $1M. My 23-year-old daughter Camila grew up in that house and moved out last year to go live with her boyfriend. I’ve never explicitly told my daughter “the house will be yours” nor has she asked anything about it, but it’s just sort of common sense.
That’s my daughter. Who else would I give it to? One important note: There are two homes in the neighborhood that are owned by lower-middle-class people (me and a neighbor who’s been here as long as I have). Otherwise, our neighbors are engineers and software developers. The Bay Area is simply unaffordable if you’re not in tech. My daughter is a hairstylist.
My fiancé Steven and I have been together for two years. He has two young children (elementary school) who he has joint custody of. I adore them and I’m excited to help raise them. Steven and I don’t have a ton in the bank so a prenup seemed silly…if it weren’t for the house. I told him that I’m ready to combine finances and plan long-term with him, but I wanted a prenup agreement just for the house.
It’s a non-negotiable for me that my daughter inherits the house. He wasn’t happy with this. He said that $1M split three ways is enough for all three kids to get a head-start in life. I disagree. I paid 80% of the mortgage by myself and Camila is my only child. She can have her dream life (working as a hairstylist, living in the Bay Area) with this house but will be unhappy (have to move out to a less desirable area) if it’s split.
I spoke to Camila about this and she agrees that she should get the house and said she always planned on inheriting it, just like I always planned on giving it to her.