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How to Get Your Share of a Marital Home Purchased in Your Spouse's Parents Name

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  • 12-31-2016, 01:03 AM
    lawfacts
    How to Get Your Share of a Marital Home Purchased in Your Spouse's Parents Name
    A couple married and wanted to buy a house together. They had money for a down payment, but the wife wanted to keep the house she owned before marriage as an investment, so between that debt load and their combined income they couldn't get an affordable mortgage. Instead, they purchased the home in the name of the husband's parents, with the mortgage in the parents' name, and then made all of the payments. The wife put $50,000 into the home as a down payment.

    Now the couple is divorcing, and the wife wants to know if she will be able to recover her down payment or a share of the equity in the home, despite its being in the name of the husband's parents. What can she do?
  • 12-31-2016, 08:46 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: How to Get Your Share of a Marital Home Purchased in Your Spouse's Parents Name
    A big part of the answer depends upon the goodwill of the husband and his parents. If they agree that the home is a marital asset and should be divided in the divorce, of if the husband agrees that the home is a marital asset and agrees to repay the $50,000 down payment such that he can keep the home, then it should be possible to work things out amicably.

    If, however, the husband and his parents deny that the home is a marital asset, insisting that it is owned by the parents and only rented by the couple, then the process of trying to recover equity or the down payment will be much more complicated, and will turn on state law and whatever facts can be proved about the transaction. If this is going to be a fight, the wife should get the help of a good divorce lawyer.
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