Change Mortgage In Divorce: Quit Claim Deed Won't Work

Added November 18, 2008 by Ilyce R. Glink

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Summary: When you divorce you may want to remove some of the names on your home's mortgage. You can't remove the name of one of the borrowers on a mortgage loan using a quit claim deed. A quit claim deed can change the names listed on a home's title but not on the mortgage. To change the names on a mortgage loan you have to refinance, sell the home and repay the mortgage loan or pay off the mortgage loan with cash.

Q: My wife and I are getting a divorce, we live in Florida. She wants to remove her name from our mortgage so she can go out and purchase a home of her own without being financially tied to this home. Is a quit claim deed the way to go?

Thanks for the help.

A: In general, you can only remove someone's name from a mortgage by refinancing the loan, paying the loan off by selling the property, or by using cash. In rare cases, you can petition the bank to have one of the borrower's names removed from the loan. A quit claim deed would only remove her name from the ownership of the home but not from the obligation she has under the mortgage.

If you decide to refinance the loan to remove her name from the mortgage, at the time of the closing of the loan, she could quit claim her ownership interest in the home to you as she is removed from the burden of the mortgage.

Some title companies and closing agents will help you prepare the quit claim deed when you refinance the home. But in other states, you might need to do it yourself or hire a real estate attorney to prepare the documentation.

Nov. 18, 2008.

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