Brother and Wife Divorcing, He Pays Mortgage, She Wants House.?

Question

My brother and his wife are looking at getting divorced after two years of marriage.

They bought a House, and as she was unemployed it is in his name. He has made a vast majority of the payments on the mortgage, however she wants the house.

This doesn't seem right. She has done similar before to the guy before my brother, only they weren't married.

He is looking for some kind of get out clause that means he gets the property, or at least the lions share of the proceeds.

One thought is to sell it to me.

What would you guys recommend?

Answer 1

If she wants the house then if there are no children he should have her buy out his half, at today's price, and unless he has owned the house for a lot more than the 2 years he will not have paid off much of the mortgage. I had the same problem when I divorced and with the house not selling I actually bought our my ex at half the profit, ie the mortgage was £64000 and the value was about £150000 so I offered £40000 and she accepted as the house was not selling and she could not get her money until it did. If he sells it to you first at what price and second the divorce court might see that as ducking out of an obligation. I suspect that if she gets the house and can not pay the mortguage then she will have to sell or it will be repossessed and then you could buy it very cheap.

Answer 2

I say that he should look into how much equity is in the house and try to buy her out if he can. I know he made the majority of the payments, but we are selfish people. If they have kids together then i say give her the house because the child will need somewhere to live, but if not go for what is his. If she is a gold digger then she will just want the money anyway.

Answer 3

Get a lawyer's consultation. Usually first one is free. A wife might be greedy but at the same time there can be more things that you didn't mention or not aware of it. I am not saying she is doing a right thing but maybe she cleaned the house, did laundry and etc. Just because she was unemployed, it doesn't mean that she didn't deserve anything. Fifty fifty would seem to be a fair thing.

Answer 4

Not sure, but even though she has not contributed much financially, she is probably entitled to half of everything. If they have money in the bank , and that amount equals to what the house is worth, they can agree amicably to settle, she gets the house, he gets the money, 50/50 . Otherwise selling of acquired assets including the house then dividing the proceeds would seem proper.

Why didn`t he get a prenuptial agreement?

Answer 5

If they have kids there is a possibilty it might go in her favour. If not, and your brother can proove he made most of payments he has a chance to get it, however, has she been paying other bills etc and not morgage - this is a consideration.

If goes to court judge might say sell and they split money some way or one keeps and the other pays some sort of spousal support or gets a lot of other 'stuff' from divorce to make it seem fair.

Answer 6

Hi!
From where u r? Is there any baby due to this weblock ? First of all i want to inform u there is a strict law in favour of women in India. She can claim what she want as per law. Even through court she can claim monthly maintenance for a life and also lodge a FIR against your family member and result they can go to jail till the court santion bail application. So it is better solve this problem at home and she is unemployed and now she is your brother's responsibility to avail home, meal, cloth (roti, kapra, mekan), so try to short out this matter at home and now they are not ready to live with each other then instead of paying maintenance for a whole life just short out this matter with full n final settlement through court and give divorce with mutual consent.

Answer 7

I think she most likely can get 1/2 of the house, there's no way she can take the whole house. One way is if she has no title to the house asked your brother to sell the house to you in the amount that just pay off the mortgage, for example he still owe $50,000, then just sell it to you at that cost, so she can't get a dime. However, I strongly recommend your brother to seek legal advise.

Answer 8

since they are married, the home is considered "marital property" in most states (i'm sure there might be some exceptions).

it usually doesn't matter if they have been married 2 or 20 yeras... marital property is marital property.

if she is cheating or doing something unscrupulous, then your brother might end up with the house himself.

he needs consult a good (or two) attorney about this matter to ease his own mind that is what i recommend, and probably the most constructive thing to do... many attorneys offer free consultations...

take care

Answer 9

Sell the house. He should get more of the profits since he paid most of it.

She probably tries to get a lawyer to get more than she deserves. Both will pay lots of money for lawyer just to fight over the house. That'll be a waste of money.

Buy her out. If she can afford to pay for the house than she has to pay him but since she was unemployed, I don't think she can afford it. Who knows?? If she has done it before, she may have money stacks away somewhere.

Answer 10

I would recommend he see a solicitor- if they are married a court may take the decision to split the house. Your solution sounds fine in itself but a solicitor would be better able to advise-courts look at how much time and energy she has invested into the house as well as money. For instance if she stayed at home and kept house, or raised any children for him! Its not cut and dried i am afraid.