Kredi Tale Chapter 11: How can I change the name on the title deed of our properties without my husband knowing?
Before I tell this story I want you to know that I love my husband very much but I don’t trust him anymore. My husband and I were set up by one of my aunties. I was in my 30’s and so was he. I liked how mature he was compared to the other guys I had met and how he always took control of everything. You know when they say someone is the man of the house, he is that and more. We have two children right now and my husband fuels my car, buys groceries, and every other we need at home. When he got married I was earning more than him and he was not bothered. Two years after we got married he started earning more than me and that’s when he fully took over our finances.
My husband and I buy property and invest jointly. He tells me how much we need for a car or property and I pay half and he pays the other half. Normally, I don’t ask him for any papers, I don’t think I care to see anything because I’m very confident that he can handle everything. My husband’s workplace sends him out of the country sometimes so I spend some weeks alone with the children. He has been gone for two weeks now and last week we had an issue with Nepa. They came to our compound and accused all the tenants of illegal connection. We all had to start producing NEPA receipts. My husband pays all the bills with our joint funds and keeps all the receipts in his home office. I normally don’t enter the office because I work from my office outside our home every day and I like to give him his own space. I went into the office and opened his desk drawer. As I was looking for the receipts I found a folder with our land deeds, the house we both paid for in Abuja, and the car the driver takes the kids to school in. To my surprise, everything was in my husband’s name. It shocked me deeply. I just assumed he was doing everything in both our names because we paid for everything together. In fact, I was the one who suggested that we should start saving for our future together because when I first met him he wasn’t the type with long-term plans. That was the only red flag I had when my aunty introduced us and when I brought it up with him that’s when we decided that we would do joint investments so he can be serious.
Please I don’t know what to do now and I need advice. I’m thinking of changing the names on all the certificates before he comes back, is this something I can do? Should I get a lawyer? I want to confront him but I think I’m afraid that this might cause serious problems for us. How can he be doing things like that behind me? I have literally handed all my the money I’ve made in this life to this man to help us secure our future and this is what he is doing? I haven’t told anyone yet because I don’t like involving outsiders in my marriage but I’m lost and heartbroken right now.
Kiki from Kredi
My advice for this lady is quite simple. Call your lawyer. No matter how much you love your husband and how heartbroken you are, you need to protect yourself. Even if he didn’t put both your names individually on the certificate, a lot of people put Mr and Mrs something on certificates, when they don’t want to list their individual names. If he can be doing this behind you with your back then you need to tighten your chest a little bit because more things will come to light when you eventually confront him. But first, get proper legal guidance because this is very serious.