Q: Can I buy a house if my spouse won’t sign a free trader agreement? We are separated but not divorced.
I’ve been living apart from my wife for a month now with the intentions of getting a divorce. I want to purchase a home, but she won’t sign a free trader agreement. She’s doing this for no other reason than she’s mad. We have no other monies, assets, or properties to divide. So this should be a clean cut divorce but she’s making it difficult for me. Is there anything I can do? If by chance she does sign it do I need to have the agreement on record?
Help me NC.
A: If you buy a house while you are still married, then she has an ownership interest and an inheritance interest in the house. You can't make her sign a free trader. So you either need to wait until you get the divorce after you've been separated for a year, or you need to hire an attorney to file for Equitable distribution, where the goal is a court order that says the house is your separate property. Of course for the house to be your separate property, you can't use any marital funds for the down payment. Marital funds are defined as funds earned during a marriage by either spouse. North Carolina does not define marital property by title. Marital property is defined by the source of funds. If an asset is bought with funds earned during the marriage by either spouse, then that asset is a marital asset even if it's in your sole name.
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