Q: Receiving inheritance , divorcing , and buy a home
Hello ,
I will be receiving an inheritance very soon. and want to buy a home with the money. I am also going to file for divorce.(which was decided way before knowledge of inheritance).He wants to keep the house we currently own and live in,which is fine.He can have whatever equity is in the home as well. ( its around 20,000). The problem is I want my name off the house and loan. neither of us have good credit right now so refinancing might be an issue.. Aside from selling the house or him getting a cosigner is there anything I can do to be released from financial responsibility from the home? If there is no other way, what are some of the repercussions of leaving my name on the house after we are divorced, if he fails to make the mortgage payments ?
Can debtors go after my Inheritance money or the house I am wanting to buy? I don't want to screw him over but I really don't want to screw myself over by making dumb decisions ..
We are in California
Thank you In advance
Tina
A:
If you stop making payments on a home, the home can be acquired by the bank as collateral under the foreclosed mortgage. As for deficiency judgments, see: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/deficiency-judgments-after-foreclosure-california.html
As for removing your name from the mortgage, I see no way to do this without a refinancing of the mortgage. You may consider a short sale or a deed-in-lieu if there's enough equity in the house.
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