Actually if you think about it the reverse mortgage is a strange sort of annuity. In an annuity typically payments are based upon your age for a lifetime annuity. A joint and survivor annuity pays less than a single life one, the difference depending on both parties ages. In the same sense the person making the mortgage essentially is taking the same bet as the insurance company that you will die before the average. If you add two lives that average time is extended. Thus the amount received is lower. I would hope the procedure outlined in FD's post is followed, one might also make the spouse whose name is not on the reverse mortgage sign and acknowledgment of the implications of only one signing. If people don't read what they sign then the sort of deserve what they get what FD did should be done more often, why don't the community service organizations provide this service? Or perhaps furnish the docs a few days early for reading without being under the time pressure of a closing.
