Settling Property After Split
REM #F743
By Ilyce R. Glink
Summary: A couple splits up leaving the name of the man on the mortgage but both names on the title. Now the gentleman is stuck with the debt and not sole ownership. Ilyce shares with him options for cleaning up this mess.
Q: My brother purchased a house a few years ago when he was dating his fiancé.
They put her name on the deed but the mortgage is only in his name.
They are now separated permanently, but she refused to get off the deed. She has not paid on the mortgage since she left and when she did live there she paid little on it. In fact, my brother is now paying off the home equity line of credit they took out together to consolidate some of her debt.
What legal options does my brother have in removing her from the deed?
A: Your brother was quite foolish. He should never have put his fiancé
on the deed to the property without also including her in the mortgage. That
way, he'd have had some leverage to get her off the property if things didn’t
work out.
Here are two options for your brother to consider: He can buy out his ex-fiancé
or if they got married and are now getting a divorce, he can go to a judge,
get a divorce, and have the house awarded to him. Then, he can ask the court
to force his ex-wife to transfer the deed to the property back to him.
None of these options are particularly easy, simple or cheap. For more legal
options, your brother will have to spend some time and money with his attorney.
That attorney might advise him to sue his fiancé to force the sale of
the home or the breakup of the ownership.
NOTE: This column is distributed by Real Estate Matters Syndicate, PO Box 366, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022. This column may not be resold, reprinted, resyndicated or redistributed without written permission from the publisher.
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