If the house was purchased with monies acquired /earned during the course of the marriage, the house is marital property and subject to equitable distribution. Thus, although the house is in your name, and you could sell the house now without your wife’s consent, in the event of divorce, the court would make you give […]
If the house was purchased with monies acquired /earned during the course of the marriage, the house is marital property and subject to equitable distribution. Thus, although the house is in your name, and you could sell the house now without your wife’s consent, in the event of divorce, the court would make you give her half of the net proceeds of the sale. You are paying the bills presumably with monies earned during the marriage, which monies themselves are marital property.
There are a number of additional legal issues you should be aware of including capital gains, Section 1031 Exchanges, etc. There are also many legal concerns you should be addressing in the divorce process other than relating to the house , such as spousal support, child custody- support, if applicable, division of marital assets, etc. Divorce is too important a process to leave to self help. You need experienced legal counsel to make sure your decisions will not come back to haunt you.
If you are located in the NYC metro area, give me a call to discuss mediating your divorce. It will be cheaper, faster and less traumatic than an adversarial divorce and you may be able to work out a deal with your wife to save the house.
Leonard Weiner, Esq./ Divorce Solutions