Unmarried Couple Split Up with Joint Mortgage

**Bagz** · 10-19-2010, 02:30 PM

My question involves a relationship in the state of:Louisiana

Unmarried couple with one child together built a house with property and house in both names. After 3 years in the house, we split up. We verbally agreed on an amount for child support. I moved in with parents, while the ex and kids (one from previous relationship) remain in the house while i am paying the mortgage. it is exactly double of what we agreed upon for child support.

We haven't been to court, just a verbal. I cannot buy a house for me because my name is still on the mortgage. I want to sell the house but her signature is required to list it and she has no intentions of leaving a house that somebody else is paying for.

I could stop paying the mortgage and child support and let her bring me to court but the kids would suffer and the foreclosure would ruin both of our credit scores. I offered to sell it to her for the payoff but she probably can't get financing for that amount.

I want to get out of this financial burden but I don't know my options. I had a consultation with a lawyer, and he said that she is responsible for paying me back half of the mortgage since I moved out and half of whatever the value of using that space is since then. Meaning she is living in and using 100% of that space and I am paying 50% of that space and not using it.

Looking for my options to make her list the house.

jk · 10-19-2010, 02:59 PM

Looking for my options to make her list the house.

suing her is the only way to make her do anything. A suit to partition would be the action. Don't know the LA specifics and your laws are a bit odd to search so not overly hot on the idea of trying to find the specifics.

If she cannot get financing and buy your share, I see no other way to force the issue but to ask the court to require the home be sold.

**Bagz** · 10-20-2010, 06:35 AM

thanks for the quick response, i didn't know about a suit for partition. I will inquire about it today.
About the child support, assuming we can agree on an amount and custody, can we draw up the paperwork from the Clerk of Court's Office and present them to a judge for a judgement, or are we required to go through a lawyer?

The lawyer I had a consultation with yesterday quoted me $1200 each for me and her to draw up the papers if we both agreed and $4500 to hire him if we disagreed on anything.

That seems steep to file some paperwork and present it to a judge. How much of this can we do ourselves?

Quoting Bagz

That seems steep to file some paperwork and present it to a judge. How much of this can we do ourselves?

Sorry, I'm not trying to minimize the amount of work or a lawyer's importance, I just meant that we or I could assume much of the paperwork if it is allowed for me to do so...

**Bagz** · 10-21-2010, 12:26 PM

Can we get the child support paperwork from the Clerk of Court and file it ourselves?

jk · 10-21-2010, 04:07 PM

that one I have no idea. I hate to even guess given it's LA. A quick call to the clerk should give you an answer. In many other states, this would be a "family" court that you would deal with for child support.