Provided you do not have children and your spouse is the only owner, you may be able to claim long-term rights to the property if you can demonstrate a "beneficial interest" in it. This is a method of asking a court to formally recognize your contributions to the household. Courts will usually do this when dividing up marital assets because it helps keep track of who owns what. A beneficial interest requires proof that you contributed toward the purchase price of the house or its improvement's costs. If your spouse paid for all or part of these expenses, he or she would own the house instead. In addition to demonstrating a contribution, you must also show that you intend to continue to enjoy the benefit after the marriage ends. If your spouse dies, for example, you would not be able to retain ownership of the house since there is no way you could prove your continued enjoyment of it. The legal definition of a beneficial interest includes tenants by the entireties and joint tenants. A tenancy by the entirety is created when a husband and wife take title to real estate as joint owners with right of survivorship. Upon the death of one spouse, the other still retains ownership until he or she transfers his or her interest in the property to another person. A joint tenancy is identical to a tenancy by the entirety except that it can only contain two owners and not more than four.