Q: My wife and married son own a home together that was purchased in cash prior to his marriage.
Does his soon to be estranged wife have any rights to the property?
A: Your son's wife may have a community lien interest in this home if the mortgage payments and home maintenance or improvements were made with community funds during the course of the marriage. This can be a complicated issue and should be discussed with your son's family law attorney.
Randi Sirlin agrees with this answer
A:
Maybe. If there was home improvement done with wages or other "community" or marital money, or if they took out a home equity loan (H.E.L.O.C), she may have an interest. If the home is worth more now, do market forces (appreciation), then she likely does not have an interest in that increase in value.
I advise you to seek out an experienced family law attorney to answer this question, after he/she obtained any additional information from you, needed to provide the advice.
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