• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Divorce: Husband's IRS Tax lean on property

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

J

josefl

Guest
Divorce: Husband's IRS Tax lien on property

What is the name of your state? Florida.

Lets say my name is Maria and I am in the process of getting divorce from my husband. The problem situation is as follow:

My husband and I own a house and as part of the divorce settlement I plan to keep the house. However, my husband owes taxes to the IRS and hence the IRS put a lien on all properties own by my husband. Therefore, I would like to know if the IRS has any claims on the house once we get divorced and I keep the house for myself only. Please note the following:

a) My husband owed the taxes prior to the date we bought the house.

b) By Florida law, since we were married at the time we bought the house, the house has to be in my name and his name. When we bought the house, my intention was to buy it only on my name but I could not do it because of Florida law. Also, the house represents our primary residence since we bouhgt it.

c) As determined by the court, I am not responsible for any of the taxes owe by my husband to the IRS and the IRS does not have any claims against me.

d) The amount of money my husband owes to the IRS is 6 time larger than the current equity on the house and 6 time larger than his current salary so he can not pay. Supposely, the IRS will cancel the total debt in the year 2004 (ten year rule) if by then my husband still unable to pay it.

Hence, I would like to know the following:

1) If you are a Florida resident, can the IRS put a lien on your primary residence?

2) Since I will be the only owner and the house will be my primary residence after the divorce, can the IRS put a lien on the house after the divorce?

3) Would I owe any money to the IRS by getting the house as part of the divorce settlement?

I would appreciate your answer to these questions.

You can email me your response to : [email protected]
(Please note that the fourth and fifth characters of my email name are the number 0 and 1 ).
 
Last edited:


kat1963

Senior Member
1) If you are a Florida resident, can the IRS put a lien on your primary residence?

The IRS is Federal, state laws do not matter. They can lien anything they can get their hands on as long as it has your ex's name on it.

2) Since I will be the only owner and the house will be my primary residence after the divorce, can the IRS put a lien on the house after the divorce?

The only way you can be the sole owner of the home is to refinance. I don't see how you will be able to do that with a lien on the property. You couldn't even sell it unless the lien is satisfied. It really doesn't matter if it's your husbands alone, the lien will have to be paid or relase of the lien obtained before refinancing can be arranged (as far as I know)

3) Would I owe any money to the IRS by getting the house as part of the divorce settlement?

The lien is on the home, regardless. The only way for you to get the house in the divorce as far as I can see is to have your ex sign a quit claim on the residence. His name will still appear on the deed and he would still held responsible by the mtg company (if you default or foreclose ect. they can't care who pays, just that it does get paid. Their contract is with the both of you and are not governed by the court order between you and your ex). So anyway, you have this quit claim in place to protect your interest I suppose until your husband recieves a release of the lien from the IRS in 2004 or when ever that is to take place you are pretty much stuck transfering the property to your name only until then by refinancing. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure if there was a way to get around it, the IRS would come after both parties for hiding assets. (My DH had the damn liens too. And they were wrong, but the IRS managed to collect all their money...keep your fingers crossed for us as we fight the HUGE amount of $$$ it back! Looks hopeful! Also, has your ex thought about the IRS *Offer in Compromise* to get out from under the liens? Just a thought.)

This is my response to your questions. Please make sure you review all your options with your divorce attorney before acting.

Good Luck!

KAT
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top