Ask a lawyer, but as far as what the bank thinks, they dont care who is on the title. Its all about the mortgage. If you paid into the house, then you have a legitimate claim in my opinion.

Talk to the lawyer - cases vary from state to state.

Lynne

will be doing this today at 1 pm

Depends on if New York is a "title" state. If it's a "title" state, and you're not on the title to the property, it's not yours. Unfortunatly, you won't get any part of the house. But you will be responsible for the debts that have your name on them. Not what I'd call "equitable". But like my attorney says, equitable does not mean "fair". There is nothing FAIR about how the law handles divorce.

I have a similar situation, right down to the $900 bill from the attorney who has done absolutely nothing.

In my case, I happen to be the one that owned the house since 1998, 4 years before the STBX and I met... and I alone made the $20,000 down payment on it. I covered $40,000 worth of joint credit card debt with my home equity thru a refinance in 2004. I also have been making all the mortgage payments for the 2 years since our separation.

The court would give my STBX half the proceeds from the sale of the house.

I want to know how the hell anyone can call that fair!

(In my case, I screwed up and put the SOB on the title.)

If you ask me, you should leave a marriage with exactly what you came into it with. Sure, divide anything that was acquired during the marriage... that includes any increase in value of an asset while the two of you were together. Sure, my STBX lived in my house 8 of the 14 years I lived there and the home appreciated in value over those years... but give him a precentage of that increase based on the length of his stay, make him reimburse me for half of what I've paid toward OUR JOINT debts since we separated, and most of all, GIVE ME BACK MY DOWN PAYMENT!!!

THAT'S FAIR!! Don't you guys agree???

I AM IN VIRGINIA. THE X TRIED THIS. HE BOUGHT THE HOUSE IN 1997 PRIOR TO OUR MARRIAGE IN 2001. WE PAID THE HOUSE OFF IN FULL DURING THE COURSE OF THE MARRIAGE. HE PAID $125000 IN 1997. IN 2001 WHEN WE MARRIED, THE PRINCIPLE BALANCE WAS $112000. MY NAME IS NOT ON THE TITLE BUT BECAUSE I HAD PROOF OF THE BALANCE WHEN WE MARRIED I AM ENTITLED TO HALF OF THE HOUSE LESS THE $17k. HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO SCREW ME AND I HAD MY DUCKS IN A ROW WITH THE MORTGAGE STATEMENTS. GOOD LUCK.

ok I am entiled to half of everything here
I also have to get my own house appraisal so they are going to do this for me next week
my hubby thinks he is slick

Good news, Dee! Congratulations and by all means get your own appraisal!

Lyne

I was going to have it appraised by a real estate but then was told I need it done by a licensed appraiser so it will cost me 275.00
but I think I can use money from home equity to pay this as it is towards house
I do not want to ask lawyer and be charged lol

In PA you would be intitled to half of the Increase in value since the marriage.

And equitable distribution doesn't always mean 50/50...you may be entitled to more.

My atty showed up late at show cause hearing and total cost for atty fees was over $3000.... But I did get to keep the house. Good luck to you! The ahole mortgage company said if you could prove that you paid for some or all of it that you could deduct interest from your taxes. I suggest getting the house in your name as fast as you can when everything is final. Equitable distribution is really only good for one person unless the judge is really fair.

how would I get the house in my name at this point and time

I am not looking to keep the house

ok well we got house in 1998 paid 70 thousand for it we married in 2001
I was added to mortgage and home equity in 2004 when we refinaced it ,in 2007 it was valued at 217 thousand
not sure now what it is

Lawyers are expensive but it will be more expensive not to hire one. When I was getting divorced I went online to find the specific laws that apply to division of property in my state. You should be able to do the same thing. The law varys from state to state. Make copies of every document you can find that may be relevant to the divisionof property.

I am not a lawyer. I can only share what I have been told or heard.

10 years of marriage is important for some reason.

Over 10 years, assets are split 50/50 usually and possibly alimony may be applicable.

However, there is the consideration of what each party brought into to the marriage. Since we had nothing to bring into the marriage, I have no experience on this.

You do need legal advice. My experience is that you should also have an objective person evaluate what the attorney is doing and your decisions.

I have seen several attorney's go into a room with all the information they need and come out with some good suggestions and some bad ones. Bad meaning their financial suggestions demonstarted that they were good at law but sucked at understanding the tax implications of their suggestions. They also got confused about what month and year to use to establish fair market value of assets. They used different dates for different assets ... beats me how they get these rules. My impression of family attorney's is that success for them is getting a settlement signed between the parties. The parties better look out for themselves. So the attorney's will never have the incentive we have to look out for our own best interest.

Good luck. I wish i could tell you that lawyers, once hired, were all brilliant and exceptional. They are not.