My hubby and I will be getting a divorce (uncontested hopefully). We’ve been together for 11 yrs and married for 4 yrs. We do not have any kids. We agree on the division of most of property, and the only major asset we have is our 2001 manufactured home; therefore, this is the main dispute. We still owe K on the house; tax appraisals say it’s worth K. I feel that he should “get” the house. I have no prob. w/this b/c it sits on his family’s land. I think he should buy out my half of the equity (K), re-finance, and continue to pay the mortgage w/o my name on it. Therefore, he can do whatever he wants w/it – sell, keep, move elsewhere, etc. He thinks I should only get approximately K from the house – which is half of what it’s worth (K) minus half of what is still owed (my part of the debt – K). He also does not want to put more money into this house than he needs to.

A few questions:

1) Am I still responsible for this original debt? It would seem that if he would get the house, then I’m done w/the house. I think it would be the same as if I were a roommate that moved out but since it’s a house, there’s equity. But I think only getting K from this house is unreasonable considering what we’ve both put in to it. We’ve both paid an equal amt., literally – if he paid the month’s mortgage, then I would pay him half of the bill and vice versa. We’ve never combined our accts.; we’ve always kept them separate but made sure the bills got paid. This has worked for us.

2) So if this is the only dispute, would this still be considered an uncontested divorce or since we’re disputing the house and can’t come to an agreement, is it contested?

3) Should we seek legal representation? My hubby does not want a lawyer to get involved b/c of the cost. I would like legal advice just to make sure everything is equitable, fair, and done right. Is getting a lawyer a waste of money? I would not want this to become more antagonistic due to the involvement of a third party. Could a mediator help in this situation? What are the advantages/disadvantages of both (lawyer an mediator)?

4) Have any of you been in a situation like this – where you have no real assets and you can agree on the separation of most things? How did it turn out? How did you resolve any disagreements?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I am engaged to a very traditional man. I am concerned because I would like to have a prenup…. but I know that just suggesting that option would be a great offence to him.
On the other hand, he owns a house and he expects me to copay his mortgage once we get married and I move in with him. Now, if we got divorced someday, would I own half of the house too even if it was bought under his name?

I am seriously considering divorce but want an opinion of protection of MY ASSETS(at least thats how I view them).We keep our finances SEPARATE (no joint accounts).I estimate the equity in our house is 200K. My wife lost her job about a year ago and am pretty sure she is drawing money off her 401k.Most of the year she hasn’t paid towards mortgage or bills.Probably owes a good bit on cr card and will owe some taxes on unemp and 401k withdrawals.I’m a saver and investor and she is a spender. She says she will be hard pressed to get as good a job (Med sec’y for 30+) but is sort of still looking.She is now getting interested in MARY KAY(eeecch).Should have tried that 8 months ago.Est worth besides house-me 0k(stocks and IRAs) her 100k (401k).To me I’d like to split the proceeds from the house and give her k to pay her debts/taxes and should still leave her 7k (guess).I’d like to think that the spirit of the deal would be upheld.What is considered "marital assets" I guess is the qstn.

Does anyone have any idea where I stand with regards to keeping the marital home?
I can afford to pay the mortgage and all bills comfortably, we have two children that have grown up here, it would be in their best interests if they weren’t uprooted.
There is of course some equity in the property, which we are both entitled to share equally, would I have to ‘buy him out’ straight away?
Do I have a right to say I don’t want to sell it?
When I say the children have grown up here, I mean from babies, my youngest is only 4.

I know technically it would not be considered a prenuptial agreement since we are married, but I am looking to protect my finances after my husband and I divorce. We make an equal amount of money, but I have put more financially into the relationship, because I had more money (savings and money my father left me) when we were first married. I basically used a lot of my money to pay off debts he had (including back taxes), so we started our marriage clean. This was close to thou. Then I had a house which was almost paid off, I sold it and we bought a bigger house which I used my money for the downpayment and closing costs and also bought all the furniture in the new house. All of our cars, except for one I paid off with money I had after selling my home. Just through out our marriage, I am the one that goes into my savings for vacations, childcare (aupair) expenses or anytime extra cash is needed to fix things around the house or something. My husband has no savings account. I know some will say we are married and what is mine is his, believe me I tried that in our marriage and we had a joint account where we had saved almost 10 thou to get an au pair and he took almost all of it to pay off his credit cards to help him get a better credit rating so we could buy a house. After that, I did not try the joint account thing anymore. His credit rating was bad and so his name is not on the house, but he does pay half the mortgage each month. I put so much more financially into the house and our possessions, it would be unfair for him to walk away with half. Also, because he was the one that really wanted this house, I think it is unfair for him to be able to walk away and I get stuck with the mortgage. It is high, but I could afford it each month, though things will be very tight. I want to write up something saying that the house, cars and most of the furniture is mine and also him agreeing he will pay more than the child support guidelines for our state. I tried to look up how much he would be ordered to pay in child support, but our income level is such that a judge will have to decide. The highest amount on the guidelines would not even be 1/4th of his monthly income. That is not fair! I want him to continue to pay half of the mortgage. This may seem unfair since he will not live here and the house is not in his name, but he will live mtg free at his father’s house and I will will the house to him if something happens to me (after all he will have to take care of the kids) other than that, I will say when the kids are older, I will sale the house and after my deductions for my huge downpayments, we can split the equity. We were living in a home that was almost paid for and he was the one that wanted to move to have a home in his name. It didn’t work out that way, but that should not mean he walks away so easily. If I did get him to sign something like that, would it be legally binding?
Postnuptial! Thanks and a link! He will sign it. I have no worries on that!
Jealous much, Linda?

Hi guys,

I have a question for all the expert legal minds out there. My parents are separated, and want to figure out an amicable arrangement for division of assets. As part of the the agreement, my dad has suggested we split the ownership of the house between him and me, 20%/80%. He has agreed to continue paying the mortgage on it until it is sold.

Is this type of agreement legally enforceable, and is there a way I can legally enforce it? Would I be entitled to 80% of the value upon sale of the house, or 80% of income generated from the house? Because he is still the holder of the mortgage on the house, I’m not sure how valid my 80% claim would be.

Any help would be appreciated greatly. Thank you!

My daughter is going through a divorce, and does not currently live in the home that her husband and her were purchasing. He still resides there, but the mortgage is still in both their names. She was recently served papers that there was a pending for closure on the house. Her soon to be ex husband does not seem to be concerned about it. Can she sell the house in order to get out from under it?

Wife and I deicde to separate and we’re cool with that. Even our joint property, since she cannot afford the mortgage, she’s willing to give it to me. Now the question is can we file uncontested divorce so that we don’t have to go to the court and argue anything. We just want to end this quietly.

Okay, I have been divorced for about 2 years now. In the seperation agreement, my ex agreed to sell our house ( that both our names are under the mortgage ) or refinance it within 3 years. With only a year left, I have a sinking feeling that he will not sell/refinance in time. What should I do if this happens? Since he signed court paperwork agreeing to sell/refinance within 3 years, do I need a lawyer? Attorney? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Just bought our home w/ help from MY parents. My job is near our home, his isn’t. He refuses to leave and asks "Why should I be the one to leave?" Is there anything I can do to get him out? Both of our names are on the mortgage.