Q: We have both agreed to divorcing. Only tie to each other, other than marriage, is our mortgage that we are both on.
My husband wants to keep the house and I do not want to be on the loan anymore. He can pay the payments and bills with support of roommates but is asking that I give him a year and a half to refinance. Do I have to hold off on the divorce if I agree to wait because his credit is not where it needs to be for a home loan right now or can I still divorce and have him be responsible for the house mortgage, bills, etc and when he refinances I get the equity and keeps the home till he sells down the road?
A:
You can get divorced and include in your divorce decree a provision that he has a set period of time to refinance or the house will be sold. At the time of refinance or sale, you can specify how much you are to receive. You will want to include an owelty lien and have him sign a deed of trust to secure assumption and you will sign a special warranty deed with owelty lien. You will want to include a provision that allows for the appointment of a receiver to sell the house if you cannot agree and you will want to include specific provisions allowing the receiver to take possession of the house from him if he is not cooperating in efforts to sell the home.
These are fairly common situations that any reasonable competent attorney who practices in the area of family law or divorce ought to be able to address in the decree for you. Because of how simply and common this situation is, you do not need to overspend by hiring an attorney with many years of experience. Pretty much any attorney with 3+ years of experience in family law or divorce ought to be able to properly handle this issue.
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