seperated - sold house, other issues

[bagged123]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? DE

OK, let me start off saying I'm asking this on behalf of my brother.
My brother and his have are getting a divorce and have seprateed (though not legally) no papers have been drawn up as of today. (6/25/08) and she took the kids.
He has paid half of all the bills like, elect, water, car payments, etc and even the mortgage though he is not on the mortgage, he had some credit issues and to get a better rate they only
had her on the note but they bought the house after they got married. Now, a couple of questions/issues he has is the following: Here is what she has done so far and he wants to know
is there anything he can do:
even though they both worked she took their tax refund stating she made more then him so she kept the entire refund check (over 5000 grand)
She kept their stimulus check when that came claiming she made more, so she took that
Now, she sold their house and took the money she made off it and told him, since the house was in her name that she can do what she wants with the money she made in the
sale.
Also, she is demanding 800 every 2 weeks from him, (note: this is not court appointed, just from her demands) and that if he doesn't pay it, she'll have him arrested.

Now, is there anything he can do? Yes, he's trying to get a divorce laywer in this process as she has not at this time and the lawyers want anywhere between 1500 - 2500 to start
and with her taken everything and running he's kind of broke.


So, he wants to know, is what she's doing even legal? Can she keep their entire tax refund and tax stimulus check? Even though he paid most of the mortgage on their house,
is he entitled to part of the money made on the sale?

I'm trying to find out as much information as possible for him. thanks for any help or information you can provide.

[MFinancier]

Originally Posted by bagged123

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? DE

OK, let me start off saying I'm asking this on behalf of my brother.
My brother and his have are getting a divorce and have seprateed (though not legally) no papers have been drawn up as of today. (6/25/08) and she took the kids.
He has paid half of all the bills like, elect, water, car payments, etc and even the mortgage though he is not on the mortgage, he had some credit issues and to get a better rate they only
had her on the note but they bought the house after they got married. Now, a couple of questions/issues he has is the following: Here is what she has done so far and he wants to know
is there anything he can do:
even though they both worked she took their tax refund stating she made more then him so she kept the entire refund check (over 5000 grand)

She kept their stimulus check when that came claiming she made more, so she took that
Now, she sold their house and took the money she made off it and told him, since the house was in her name that she can do what she wants with the money she made in the
sale.
Also, she is demanding 800 every 2 weeks from him, (note: this is not court appointed, just from her demands) and that if he doesn't pay it, she'll have him arrested.

Now, is there anything he can do? Yes, he's trying to get a divorce laywer in this process as she has not at this time and the lawyers want anywhere between 1500 - 2500 to start
and with her taken everything and running he's kind of broke.


So, he wants to know, is what she's doing even legal? Can she keep their entire tax refund and tax stimulus check? Even though he paid most of the mortgage on their house,
is he entitled to part of the money made on the sale?

I'm trying to find out as much information as possible for him. thanks for any help or information you can provide.

First...get him an attorney! If he can't afford one...she may have to pay for it upfront and it will then be deducted from the marital estate upon division

§ 1515. Attorneys' fees.

The Court from time to time after considering the financial resources of both parties may order a party to pay all or part of the cost to the other party of maintaining or defending any proceeding under this title and for attorneys' fees, including sums for legal services rendered and costs incurred prior to the commencement of the proceeding or after the entry of judgment. The Court may order that the amount be paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in his or her name. (Code 1915, § 3015; Code 1935, § 3508; 13 Del. C. 1953, § 1530; 59 Del. Laws, c. 350, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.)

Second...if the house was sold prior to any interim order or preliminary injunction subsequent to the filing of a petiton for divorce...it's sold! But some or all of the proceeeds are still marital so you need to find out if she used any separate funds for the down payment on the house to figure this out. If she didn't...the proceeds will be split equitably (50/50 is the starting point). Same with the tax refund and stimulus check.

§ 1513. Disposition of marital property; imposition of lien; insurance policies.

(b) For purposes of this chapter only, "marital property" means all property acquired by either party subsequent to the marriage except:

(1) Property acquired by an individual spouse by bequest, devise or descent or by gift, except gifts between spouses, provided the gifted property is titled and maintained in the sole name of the donee spouse, or a gift tax return is filed reporting the transfer of the gifted property in the sole name of the donee spouse or a notarized document, executed before or contemporaneously with the transfer, is offered demonstrating the nature of the transfer.

(2) Property acquired in exchange for property acquired prior to the marriage;

(3) Property excluded by valid agreement of the parties; and

(4) The increase in value of property acquired prior to the marriage.

(c) All property acquired by either party subsequent to the marriage is presumed to be marital property regardless of whether title is held individually or by the parties in some form of co-ownership such as joint tenancy, tenancy in common or tenancy by the entirety. The presumption of marital property is overcome by a showing that the property was acquired by a method listed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (b) of this section. Property transferred by gift from 1 spouse to the other during the marriage is marital property.

Third...she can't demand anything without a court order.

[bagged123]

For the house, they used funds that they recieved from his grandfather for the down payment, and money from him to connect it to city sewer, repairs etc.

[Ohiogal]

How did she sell the marital home without his permission?

[bagged123]

They've been trying to sell it prior to their seperation, but once they got seperated he was out of the loop such as offers, etc. He was just told to leave the house due to showing. He stayed in the house still paying for everything while she took off to live with a family member. Two weeks ago she told him the house sold and to get out.

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by bagged123

They've been trying to sell it prior to their seperation, but once they got seperated he was out of the loop such as offers, etc. He was just told to leave the house due to showing. He stayed in the house still paying for everything while she took off to live with a family member. Two weeks ago she told him the house sold and to get out.

He never should have left. Was he on the deed? He needs to quit paying everything, file for divorce and ask for alimony, custody of the children and spousal support. He also needs to move back into the marital home unless other people are living there. He also needs to contact the realtor and state that he did NOT okay the sale of said home. He most likely has dower rights.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by bagged123

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? DE

OK, let me start off saying I'm asking this on behalf of my brother.
My brother and his have are getting a divorce and have seprateed (though not legally) no papers have been drawn up as of today. (6/25/08) and she took the kids.
He has paid half of all the bills like, elect, water, car payments, etc and even the mortgage though he is not on the mortgage, he had some credit issues and to get a better rate they only
had her on the note but they bought the house after they got married. Now, a couple of questions/issues he has is the following: Here is what she has done so far and he wants to know
is there anything he can do:
even though they both worked she took their tax refund stating she made more then him so she kept the entire refund check (over 5000 grand)
She kept their stimulus check when that came claiming she made more, so she took that
Now, she sold their house and took the money she made off it and told him, since the house was in her name that she can do what she wants with the money she made in the
sale.
Also, she is demanding 800 every 2 weeks from him, (note: this is not court appointed, just from her demands) and that if he doesn't pay it, she'll have him arrested.

Now, is there anything he can do? Yes, he's trying to get a divorce laywer in this process as she has not at this time and the lawyers want anywhere between 1500 - 2500 to start
and with her taken everything and running he's kind of broke.


So, he wants to know, is what she's doing even legal? Can she keep their entire tax refund and tax stimulus check? Even though he paid most of the mortgage on their house,
is he entitled to part of the money made on the sale?

I'm trying to find out as much information as possible for him. thanks for any help or information you can provide.

What she is doing is not illegal at this point because they aren't even legally separated. However, the tax refund and stimulous payment are marital assets and will have to be accounted for in the divorce, and the equity in the home is also marital property and will have to be accounted for as well.

Is he certain that the house has really sold?

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Ohiogal

He never should have left. Was he on the deed? He needs to quit paying everything, file for divorce and ask for alimony, custody of the children and spousal support. He also needs to move back into the marital home unless other people are living there. He also needs to contact the realtor and state that he did NOT okay the sale of said home. He most likely has dower rights.

Its possible that the house hasn't actually been closed on yet. If that is the case I wouldn't necessarily go running to the realtor. Its probably in everyone's best interest that the house sells, and he doesn't want to mess up the sale.

However, he does need to find out whether or not he has any dower rights or anything similar in his state (not all states are the same) and make sure that the title company is aware that he is out there and exercising his rights. I really think he needs an attorney...like yesterday. His family needs to help him get one.

[bagged123]

The house was closed on already, he's currently staying with our mom. I'm working on finding him a lawyer but damn, their expensive.

[mistoffolees]

Originally Posted by bagged123

I'm working on finding him a lawyer but damn, their expensive.

But they're usually less expensive than NOT having a lawyer.