Q: Been divorced over 10 years in Puerto Rico.My ex never paid mortgage. Can he claim half of my home now?

A: Hello and thank you for using Justia. At the time of purchase, the house became marital society property. As of the divorced, the property became community society property also known as Post Marital society property. It remains community society property until the parties liquidate said house. Thus yes your ex-husband is fifty percent owner of the house at the moment of divorced and creation of the community property. However said percentage is affected by the percentage of payments that you have mavde on the house. Thus your ex-husband can claim a percentage of the house value at time of liquidation.

If you need additional information please feel free to contact me directly.

A: Greetings:

First and foremost, the result and evaluation will depend on whether you married under a legal partnership or you married with a prenuptial agreement. When you divorce this partnership is not dissolved automatically. It has to be file in a separate civil action because the court will have to evaluate what percentage can be credited to each individual depending on the type of partnership and participation on payments to the property or properties in controversy. Other legal aspects and specifics on the nature of the properties can affect this as well. ie. Private property that came from an inheritance cannot be claimed, while bank accounts and bonds and other shared properties can.

Now that you understand more about this, the answer is yes. You or your ex can claim their rightful participation on the legal partnership, but the participation percentage might be limited to the payments while together and you can be accredited for the payments after the separation given other specifics in consideration. Because of these technical specifications it would be highly recommendable that you hire a legal representative.

If you need our assistance and other information, feel free to contact us directly. We'll be glad to help.