Questions about adopted children in a divorce

[talknerdytome]

CA -

Hello. My mother has decided to leave my stepfather. Among other things, he's forced her to sell our house for money. My mother doesn't want to take all the money, but she doesn't want to split it evenly either (they do have a child together, my younger half brother). Since I am not his biological daughter (he also never legally adopted me), if some of the earnings from the sale of our house is put into an account where I am the sole owner, can he get to it?

 

[LdiJ]

CA -

Hello. My mother has decided to leave my stepfather. Among other things, he's forced her to sell our house for money. My mother doesn't want to take all the money, but she doesn't want to split it evenly either (they do have a child together, my younger half brother). Since I am not his biological daughter (he also never legally adopted me), if some of the earnings from the sale of our house is put into an account where I am the sole owner, can he get to it?

In whose name is/was the house titled?

How did he "force" her to sell it?

How long have they been married and how long has the home been owned?

If the house was in her name only....then he couldn't have forced her to sell it....only the courts could.

The courts will decide how the money is to be divided.....it will be based on the equity/appreciation that accrued during the marriage.

 

[talknerdytome]

>>In whose name is/was the house titled?

Originally it was just my mother, then he demanded to be put on the title.

>>How did he "force" her to sell it?

Actually, he threatened to divorce her several times. He said that if he divorced her then she'd have to sell the house anyway. She wanted to keep the family together, but she now doesn't feel like she can live with him anymore.

>>How long have they been married and how long has the home been owned?

They've been married 16 years or so. The home was in our posession for roughly 4 years.

 

[LdiJ]

>>In whose name is/was the house titled?

Originally it was just my mother, then he demanded to be put on the title.

>>How did he "force" her to sell it?

Actually, he threatened to divorce her several times. He said that if he divorced her then she'd have to sell the house anyway. She wanted to keep the family together, but she now doesn't feel like she can live with him anymore.

>>How long have they been married and how long has the home been owned?

They've been married 16 years or so. The home was in our posession for roughly 4 years.

He is going to be entitled to pretty nearly half of the equity....if not truly half since she put his name on the house. She wouldn't have had to sell it if she would have been able to refinance it in her own name, for enough to pay him his half of the equity.

Putting the money in an account in your name would just get her in serious trouble for hiding marital assets.

However, thats not going to be possible anyway, since the the money will be issued to both of them at closing.

Your mother really needs to consult with an attorney. Its sounds like she is taking too much advice from your stepfather, and she needs to know what her legal rights are.

 

[dallas702]

And if she is awarded custody of both you and your brother he will be ordered to pay child support, and then possibly some spousal support and half of his retirement when that day comes. Don't worry, she'll come out all right if she actually gets the money.

 

[nextwife]

And if she is awarded custody of both you and your brother he will be ordered to pay child support, and then possibly some spousal support and half of his retirement when that day comes. Don't worry, she'll come out all right if she actually gets the money.

I suspect our poster is not a child and will not be part of a custody order.

AS this sounds like a second or so marriage, likely the stepdad had a retirement account for years PRIOR to this marriage, thus "half of his retirement account" is unlikely. As LDiJ pointed out, they'd each only be entitled to half of each others accrual in their retirement accounts that occurred DURING the marriage. Which could be only 20 or 25% of retirement, depending on it's value at marriage.

Nothing posted gives any basis to state that she may get spousal support. The only information we have about the poster's mom is that she is the female spouse. No info on their incomes . Being female is not in and of itself a sufficient reason to get spousal support. How do you know SHE isn't the higher income partner? Maybe HE'S the one who'd be entitled to spousal support? Plenty of us women have comparable incomes to those of our spouses. Plenty of us married for decades would NOT have a legal basis for spousal support. Merely being female and in a long term marriage is NOT enough.


AS to the title of this thread, being adopted, it has no bearing on any of the legal issues here. Once adopted, the legal status of one's children is NO DIFFERENT if adopted, than that of the biological kids.

 

[dallas702]

What I am reading is 16 years of marriage, which will entitle stbx to a substantial portion of his current and future income. If there has been a biodad paying CS for all these years for the "daughter" then stepdad may be off the hook there. If not, stepdad is going to be considered "dad" and will be paying CS until she reaches majority (or whatever happens in that state). Since there is no mention of a prior spouse or family we can only go by what is offered.

But...she sure should have kept the house in her name only. Too bad.

 

[talknerdytome]

I applaude nextwife, everything you say is very true. However, in this particular case, my step-father does make more than my mother, about twice as much. I think the selling of the house is in part to help fund my dad's retirement to be honest. I also agree about the adoptive parents being "real", and I did not intend for it to seem as though I didn't. I've never met my biological father, he died when I was very young. My step-father is the only father I have ever known. In fact, I never refer to him as my step-father in my daily life unless I am clarifying something. I will say though, when I was younger he really was a different person. I went to college, and when I came back I kind of stumbled into all this. Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate it.