Divorce: Property Valuation & Settlement

[gherity]

My divorce will proceed in Massachusetts. My wife & I verbally agreed to separate in May,08., to put the marital home up for sale and to buy out one anothers interest if the house did not sell for a desirable price. I left the marital home, moved to Kansas to live with my brother and continued to make half of the mortgage payments until Nov,08. My wife has taken the house off the market twice against my wishes. She contends the house is worth less than the mortgage against it. What are my legal obstacles as a result of moving out and not now making payments on the mortgage? How can I surmount them?

 

[mistoffolees]

My divorce will proceed in Massachusetts. My wife & I verbally agreed to separate in May,08., to put the marital home up for sale and to buy out one anothers interest if the house did not sell for a desirable price. I left the marital home, moved to Kansas to live with my brother and continued to make half of the mortgage payments until Nov,08. My wife has taken the house off the market twice against my wishes. She contends the house is worth less than the mortgage against it. What are my legal obstacles as a result of moving out and not now making payments on the mortgage? How can I surmount them?

A verbal agreement is useless. Until you have a court order, nothing is binding.

You need to get the real estate issue settled as part of the divorce.

Unless there are children involved, moving out will not have much consequence. Failing to make payments on the mortgage will hurt your credit rating.

 

[gherity]

Mr. Mistoffolees:

My wife has continued to make all of the mortgage payments since I stopped in Nov.08. Does Massachusettes Probate Court look at anything other than Certified Appraisals to determine the value of the house? Will my wife taking the house off the market have an adverse effect on her case? Can I get a Motion for Continuance of a "Pre-trial Notice and Order, Domestic Relations/Equity" on the grounds that I am living in Kansas, have a hardship in travelling due to costs & want to get answers to written "interrogatories" prior to such Pre-Trial Conference, because I suspect my wifes strategy is to "ambush" me. Is your legal practice in Massachusetts?

 

[mistoffolees]

Mr. Mistoffolees:

My wife has continued to make all of the mortgage payments since I stopped in Nov.08. Does Massachusettes Probate Court look at anything other than Certified Appraisals to determine the value of the house? Will my wife taking the house off the market have an adverse effect on her case? Can I get a Motion for Continuance of a "Pre-trial Notice and Order, Domestic Relations/Equity" on the grounds that I am living in Kansas, have a hardship in travelling due to costs & want to get answers to written "interrogatories" prior to such Pre-Trial Conference, because I suspect my wifes strategy is to "ambush" me. Is your legal practice in Massachusetts?

I would suggest that you get an attorney in MA. You can't easily be there and the divorce is clearly not going to be one where the two of you agree on everything. Get an attorney there and let them do the heavy work.

 

[LdiJ]

Mr. Mistoffolees:

My wife has continued to make all of the mortgage payments since I stopped in Nov.08. Does Massachusettes Probate Court look at anything other than Certified Appraisals to determine the value of the house? Will my wife taking the house off the market have an adverse effect on her case? Can I get a Motion for Continuance of a "Pre-trial Notice and Order, Domestic Relations/Equity" on the grounds that I am living in Kansas, have a hardship in travelling due to costs & want to get answers to written "interrogatories" prior to such Pre-Trial Conference, because I suspect my wifes strategy is to "ambush" me. Is your legal practice in Massachusetts?

Ok...lets look at this from a different perspective.

If your wife is correct, and the fair market value of the house is worth less than the mortgage, (which is an extremely common problem with the current housing market) then selling honestly may not be in your best interest, nor could either of you buy the other out at this point, because neither of you could refinance to do so.

If you were able to force a sale, with the FMV being less than the mortgage, then both of you would take a serious credit hit...assuming that the lender would agree to a short sale. Otherwise you both would have to bring money to closing to cover the shortfall.

If your wife can afford the mortgage, it honestly may be in the best interest of both of your credit scores, to hold off selling the house for a few years...and to agree that she gets to keep the house and be solely responsible for the mortgage for a specified period of time, and then it either must be sold or refinanced.