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Can I sell my home prior to filing

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CLinton

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? GA

I own my home in my name only and purchased it less than 1 yr after I married my wife. My father has offered to purchase the home for what is left on the amount of the mortgage. Can we do this prior to filing and will there be any implications.

My wife and I seperated one month after the purchase of the home and were apart for 5 months. I spent all of the seperation time out of my home due to a ficticious Protection order that she served me. My father put a considerable amount down on the home for me and I do not want his money to go to her.

The deed is in my name only and her name is nowhere in any of the documents. I hate to be vendictive but I see a trend happening again that I have no control over and I do not want to be on the loosing end again.

My father has plans to get the home in his name for atleast 3 months before filing an eviction notice @ the time that I file for divorce.. He needless to say is very unhappy with the choices I made in picking a wife... He explained to me he is tired of hearing her call me a check in the mail....
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
CLinton said:
What is the name of your state? GA

I own my home in my name only and purchased it less than 1 yr after I married my wife. My father has offered to purchase the home for what is left on the amount of the mortgage. Can we do this prior to filing and will there be any implications.

My wife and I seperated one month after the purchase of the home and were apart for 5 months. I spent all of the seperation time out of my home due to a ficticious Protection order that she served me. My father put a considerable amount down on the home for me and I do not want his money to go to her.

The deed is in my name only and her name is nowhere in any of the documents. I hate to be vendictive but I see a trend happening again that I have no control over and I do not want to be on the loosing end again.

My father has plans to get the home in his name for atleast 3 months before filing an eviction notice @ the time that I file for divorce.. He needless to say is very unhappy with the choices I made in picking a wife... He explained to me he is tired of hearing her call me a check in the mail....

Yes, you can sell it: Your wife will have to sign the deed OR the judgment in the lawsuit will have to get rid of her interest (if any).
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
CLinton said:
What is the name of your state? GA

I own my home in my name only and purchased it less than 1 yr after I married my wife. My father has offered to purchase the home for what is left on the amount of the mortgage. Can we do this prior to filing and will there be any implications.

My wife and I seperated one month after the purchase of the home and were apart for 5 months. I spent all of the seperation time out of my home due to a ficticious Protection order that she served me. My father put a considerable amount down on the home for me and I do not want his money to go to her.

The deed is in my name only and her name is nowhere in any of the documents. I hate to be vendictive but I see a trend happening again that I have no control over and I do not want to be on the loosing end again.

My father has plans to get the home in his name for atleast 3 months before filing an eviction notice @ the time that I file for divorce.. He needless to say is very unhappy with the choices I made in picking a wife... He explained to me he is tired of hearing her call me a check in the mail....
I see some potential problems with this. You haven't said how long you have been married, but she would be entitled to a share of the equity and appreciation that accrued during the marriage....which is basically a share of all of it since you purchased it during your marriage. If you have only owned it a few months...then its no biggie.

However if that incident was some time in the past...and if you sell the home to your father, at below fair market value....which you will obviously be doing if you sell it to him for the balance due on the mortgage it will raise big red flags. It will appear that you have deliberately devalued the home by selling it below fair market value.

There would be some potential tax ramifications as well....because you would be "gifting" your dad the equity in the home.

Don't go forward with these plans without a thorough consultation with a local attorney.
 

CLinton

Junior Member
Well we have been married for about 3.5 years. I have owned the house for about 3 years as well. Her name is not on the deed to the property at all. As for taxes to my father... I am willing to pay them to ensure that she has no claim to my home. I also would like to do this in case there is a problem and she tries to put me out of the home again... If he owns the home and she puts me out before the divorce then he can have her legally evicted in 30 days.
 

ceara19

Senior Member
Like LDiJ already told you, if you go through with this, you are only setting yourself up for problems when you file for divorce. Even if there is ZERO equity in the house, your actions are going to appear, at best, underhanded and deceitful. That usually doesn't go over well with the judge. If any part of your divorce comes down to he said/she said, which happens in most cases, you have already shown that you are not credible, so even if your side of the story is 100% true and she does nothing but spout lie after lie, who do you think the judge will believe?

If your dad put up a considerable amount towards the house at the time of purchase, there should be a fair amount of equity, to which your wife is entitled to share. The only way to keep her from benefiting would be to prove the money came from a source other than marrital assets AND that it was given as a loan from your father with the intention of paying your father back.

You're going to stand a much better chance of coming out ahead if you just go ahead & file for divorce and work it out through the court.
 

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