I purchased a house and paid cash. The deed is in my name only right now. My fiancé wants me to add him to the deed because he says it will help both our credits (they arnt the greatest right now)as far as getting a home inprovement loan. Banks have told us it will help us also. I love him dearly but am afraid to add his name to the loan as this is my house and security ( I am 48). IF I were to add him and say, we broke up, could he try and take the house or be entitled to 1/2 of it??

Yes, if you added him to the deed and then the two of you broke up, he would be entitled to 1/2 of the value of the house. Adding him to the deed makes him one of the owners of the property. The only way you could add him to the deed and protect yourself is if you had a separate, written agreement stating what percentage of the house he would own.

If you want to go through with this then I strongly recommend that you speak with a real estate attorney before taking any action.

I agree with Lisa. If his goal, however, is to improve credit ratings, then he does not have to be on the deed. You may be able to get a home equity loan in both your names without putting him on the deed. If the lenders do require him being on the deed, then I would not do it unless you have a "pre-nup" that states what happens to the property if you break up.