Who is listed in the land register? Division of ownership shares?

As already described, the bank will in any case take the first charge in the land register and will not assign this to the mother-in-law. In this respect, the question arises whether the mother-in-law should even appear in the land register, because ultimately this only complicates matters.

If possible, I would arrange the shares of your parents and your in-laws privately between you and your parents or your wife and her parents, especially since it will already be difficult for you to want different shares in the land register. This is basically not possible with houses, at least I am not aware of it, i.e., you two are listed with 1/2 share each in the land register. The corresponding loan amounts behind the total encumbrance can then be represented again via individual loan agreements with the bank, which are then repaid separately from the respective account.

If you have a joint account and use this account to repay the loans to your parents and to your wife’s parents, the tax office will, in case of doubt, consider these payments as half payments if no watertight contracts exist in this regard.

So there is no way around a detailed consultation with a financier and lawyer/notary for you, and you should by no means put this off, but tackle it immediately.

Best regards Dirk Grafe

Thank you very much for the many messages.
In the meantime, we have bought a house and have already moved in.

The ownership division in the land register was done 60/40 (my wife/me), the bank is in first place, and each of us is individually liable for our loan (my wife 65,000, I 115,000). This would have been possible even with different banks, but it was easier with one bank for both loans, and since it was the best offer for both anyway, it was perfect.

By the way, the property transfer tax was also split 60/40.

Regards, downundaman