How would this settle in court?? Anyone an attorney or judge here?

Question

I went through a divorce the summer of 2005. I was a housewife and also received disability. My income was quite limited. My ex hubby wanted to do things "civily" and without laywers. I had agreed because there woul have been no way for me to come up with money to get the divorce done. At the time we were also able to speek about things. He had said that he wanted the house and i told him that would be fine because i would not have been able to afford it. So thinkiing that things would be settled in a decent manner, i went ahead and obtained paperwork for me to sign a quite claim deed. I then did so and we had then went to a notorizer to sign an agreement made just between the two of us that he agreed to have the refi done by july of 05. he never started the process, i had to scrape some money from my credit card and take it to court. they just gave him 90 days to sell or refi. of course he didnt in that time, but i dont have money to take him back. it finally went up for sale.

Only he did so by placing the home for sale in another county. Did i mention this whole time he hasnt been making ANY house payments? Then i asked for the short sale process, and nothing worked out, i then inquired about a deed in lieu, but that wont work because in the meantime he had gotten some judgements against the house, so now its in foreclosure. When its all done and over with we are suppsed to go to court and have the debt split amongst us. Am i going to have to pay 50 % of that? Also he took the washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove, fridge, and furnace out of the house. can he do that? will they take into consideration, that i was a dhousewife and on disability. is my credit shot now?

Answer 1

Apparently, you quit a claim to a house but were still on the loan?

What precisely are you trying to settle? Your liability for further payments on the house? Share of equity IN the house? Something else entirely?

People are down on the expense of a lawyer, but it's less expensive than making legal decisions without one. This is one of those times.

Please clarify and I will try to help further.

Answer 2

You've got a real mess! But if your divorce decree is not final yet, you can always modify. If it is final, you can only modify if there was fraud upon the court - did he have hiddend funds or break agreements stipulated in the divorce action? If so, you can open up the divorce judgment based on fraud (Rule 60b) and failure to comply, because no court wants a judgment to stand based on fraud. You usually have only one year after the fraud was discovered . As far as the quit claim deed, it's final once signed, and he gets all the house and furnishings unless stated as expection in the deed. The one thing you may have is the refinance agreement - its a separate contract - you can sue him on breach of that contract, even after they foreclose on you. You have two years to sue on a contract -don't let the statute of limitations expire! Another long shot - if you have done any physical repairs to the house after the quit claim deed was signed, you can file a lien against the property for payment of the work you did - this will hold up the foreclosure sale - they must settle the lien before they can sell. This may give you time to get things straightend out. If you still can't afford an attorney, try some of the self-help web sites, findlaw.com, beyourownlawyer, etc., Good luck!

Answer 3

Yes that will be considered. Also, you need to bring proof of your disability payments and your past 3 years tax returns to the court as well. Bring your credit statements, bills, and any other financial information you have. Most states first divide the property 50/50 and then take into consideration the equity of each party's position, etc. You should definitely bring all of the paper work that you have on the process you went through to quiet claim to the house, and all of the loan information from the bank that financed the purchase of the house. I can't tell you what you'll get. However, you may have your debt greatly reduced. The best thing for you to do is to bring ALL of the information to court. Don't leave anything out, even if you think it will work against you. Courts reward honesty.

Answer 4

I'm not a judge. You also didn't specify the state you are in.

This is, as was stated above, the perfect example why do-it-yourself divorces are a bad idea. You need to find the money to consult an attorney licensed in your state. This is going to be expensive, but if you continue to try and muddle through this on your own, its going to be even more expensive.

You may have some opinions on the debt, and it appears from what you've stated here you're asking if you are jointly liable for the debt. The answer is *probably*. A divorce decree cannot absolve you of liability for a debt, because a divorce decree cannot sever a contract between you and a third party. (The mortgage company isn't a party to the divorce action) The only thing a divorce court can do is punish one side of the divorce if they fail to comply with its terms.

Find an attorney in your area who has domestic relations experience, and hire him/her to complete this matter properly. You've learned a valuable lesson here, I think. Don't try to do your own legal work. For a referral to a lawyer in your area, consult your local or state bar association.

Answer 5

if your judgment of divorce has been entered, and it specifically states that your ex is liable for the house and all it's debt (you'll need to check your specific state law on the subject), but you might be shielded from the actions of the creditors in this case. If nothing about the house is mentioned in the judgment of divorce, you should get an attorney (might be a good idea anyhow). Your credit is probably lowered now. If it gets to be too much for you, depending on your situation you can still file bankruptcy and wipe your personal slate clean (worst cast scenario though). Good luck.