marital property or what?

What is the name of your state? NY

my wife and I borrowed $60,000 from my grandfather who refianced his home to lend us the money for a down payment on our home in turn i gave the $60,000 to my fatherinlaw so that he would use the money as down for our home.(my credit was bad)he took out the mortgage under his name.i am now separated from my wife. my wife and fatherinlaw claim that money was a gift and not a loan.
my wife and fatherinlaw produced a letter that stated that my grandfather and my fatherinlaw are cousins and that the loan was not to be paid back. however the broker told them that it was ok to sign this false statement just to make it look good for the bank( they are not cousins)
we never made a written agreement to say it was a loan. my wife pays the mortgage to her father thru a government program (sect. 8) the plan was that my wife and I pay my grandfather back until we were able to assume the mortgage ourselves.i started a lawsuit.can you give me more advice?

[VeronicaGia]

Did you make payments on the loan? Did you pay with checks? Did she ever make a payment with a check?

Dear Veronica Gia,
Yes I make payments both in cash and with money orders to my grandfather. I have receipts. As far as my wife she does not pay my grandfather anything she chooses to give her father part of the rent and collects rent from the tenant on the home rental( it is a two family home).

My wife has admitted in family court(child support court) that I do make payments to my grandfather for the loan my grandfather took when he refiance his home for us. My wife however insists that the $60,000 is a gift to her father "technically" even though I pay my grandfather a monthly amount. This is unjust. Is there anything legally that I can do?
Thanks,davidjames

[VeronicaGia]

The proof is in those payments and receipts. Keep them in a safe place, as it proves that this was a loan and that it is in repayment. No one repays a gift.

You need to hire an attorney who can adivise you on this situation. Be sure to present all the proof you have, including if necessary, a sworn, notarized affidavit from your grandfather that he gave both of you the loan, that the loan is being repaid, and his proof that he borrowed the money himself from his home equity loan.

Dear VeronicaGi,

Thank you for the advise, I especially agree wiyh the fact that no one pays back a gift. I have been in contact with a lawyer who feels I may have a good chance of getting two things done. One is having the court declare that this home is marital property in spite of the fact that it is under my fatherinlaw's name therefore the home will be given to my wife and I. The other possibility is that the court will declare that my fatherinlaw is unjustly enriched in keeping this property so then the court will consider making a constructive trust whereby I could totally pay my grandfather back.
I am learning a very hard lesson and hope others can learn from this to put everything in writng even if it is between family members. One more thing I want to clarify and that is that when my wife pays my fatherinlaw monies is not really "rent" but it goes to his pocket for the mortgage or their personal profit.

Thanks DJ