Paying Mortgage During Separation

Added July 24, 2007 by Ilyce R. Glink

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Summary: Even if you are separated or divorced from your spouse, if both of you are on the mortgage, you are both responsible for paying the mortgage. You must make the payments on time, or both credit histories will suffer. You should consider selling the house, or refinance and work out a way to pay the mortgage on one income. It needs to be a joint effort to figure out how to pay the mortgage, even if you don't stay married.

Q: My wife and I married on November 17, 2006. We bought our home at the end of that month. We moved into the house in January and lived there together for about 5 months.

We've been separated since May, and now no one lives in the house. It's clear that we're going to divorce. I can come up with my half of the mortgage payment, but my wife is not being cooperative.

She is on the deed and the mortgage. What can I do to protect my credit?

A: It's unfortunate that after just a few months of what was apparently not-such-wedded bliss, you find yourself with a property that neither of you can afford.

You need to find a way to convince your wife to participate in fixing this problem. Both of you need to get together and work on selling the property, or you have to figure out a way to bring in more income so that the property is affordable with one income.

If she won't sell (and the threat of ruining her own credit isn't enough to make her see straight), then you need to find a second or third job on a temporary basis until the property is sold or she comes to her senses. Otherwise, both your credit history and hers will suffer.

Another option will be to work with your divorce attorney to settle the matter of the house along with all of your other financial and legal matters.

Published: Jul 24, 2007

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