help in maryland

What is the name of your state?maryland
long story short, after eight years of being married my wife wants a divorce.
she has gotten herself a lawyer and wants a voluntary separation.we are in a house that we bought together but only her name is on it.this house we purchased was bought with the proceeds from a house we had prior. my question is do i have to be the one who leaves? the house is maritial property is it not. if she wants the divorce cant i stay at the house and have her leave?

You can certainly ask to stay in the house. You'd think that the one who wanted out would just get out (literally), but it isn't that simple. If you have children and she asks for temp custody until finalization, she will stay in the house with the kids and you get screwed. You can ask for the same, and if you actually get to stay we'd all like to hear about this miracle. Sexual equality may reach most places in our current culture, but not very far into the family court system.

If you have no kids you have to respond to her filing (or pre-empt her) and fight to stay in the house. Here's the nutshell: if you make more money that she does (assuming you both work) you will have to climb a mountain to convince a judge that you should stay in the home. If she doesn't work you're totally screwed unless you are willing to pay for a place for her to live.

Is her name the only one on the deed, or the one on the mortgage? Did you sign a quitclaim deed to the property when you bought it? Did you get the mortgage on her credit rather than a joint loan?

i thought

the mortgage is in her name,but, i told her today of my intent to stay and she hit the roof.Don't I have a legal right to stay there?
I offered to take over the payments and she can find someplace else to live for a year , she got flaming mad. I mean really mad, she has a lawyer and I dont , its just easier for her to move then me, I have alot of big stuff.can she change the locks on the doors when i am not there?
dont know about the quit claim but i am pretty sure they sold us the house on her credit alone, although we did carry over something from the other house.

You'd better check those papers. If you signed a quitclaim the house is hers. The motgage lender usually requires that for one half of a married couple to be responsible for the payments. That keeps the other party from selling the house and leaving the lender with no recourse.

If she owns it solely you could be in big trouble. You can get your half of the value, but she may be able to toss you.

how can i find out if i signed that?

Since this is Maryland, which I don't believe is one of the community property states, (please correct me if I am wrong) its really unrealistic of this poster to believe that he can be the one to keep the house.

The house is in his wife's name only. It would be very unusual for a judge to order his wife to sell the house to him, which is what would have to happen in order for him to stay in the house.

Its also obvious that the house is in his wife's name only for a reason...most likely credit based. If that is the case then he won't be able to qualify for a mortgage...which again he would have to do since he would have to buy the house from his wife. He would have to qualify for a mortgage that was equal to the remaining balance on the house plus her share of the equity.

Now, certainly, he would be entitled to a fair share of the equity in the home...but that doesn't mean that he would get to be the one to keep the home.

He needs to start packing and getting ready to move.

So far this doesn't sound too good.

Joseph;

There should be a copy with your mortgage/closing/etc. papers. If not, you can either call the mortgage company and ask them, or check the property tax records. for your county (probably do it online).

If you don't have ownership you need to have her buy you out for 1/2 the equity after an appraisal, plus whatever your portion of the proceeds from the sale of the first home was. It could be substantial if property values increased a lot where you are. If you can't normally qualify for a loan by yourself, you might have enough from the buyout for a sizeable down payment. Cash talks big to lenders.

But, that's a lot of "ifs".

Find out what your status is.

should i cut my loses

if i voluntarily walk out for a year doesnt that give her grounds for an absolute divorce?

joseph11 said:

if i voluntarily walk out for a year doesnt that give her grounds for an absolute divorce?

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She can get a divorce whether you leave or not. If she wants a divorce you certainly can't stop her from getting one.

True. And vice versa.

any options?

are there any options that i can look at? i really do not want to move.

joseph11 said:

are there any options that i can look at? i really do not want to move.

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I can honestly see no option that would allow you to physically keep the home. You can certainly get a fair share of the equity, but not the home itself.

equity

silly question, does equity carry over from one house to another i.e. we sold the first house to get the 2nd one, we had not finished paying on the first .

joseph11 said:

silly question, does equity carry over from one house to another i.e. we sold the first house to get the 2nd one, we had not finished paying on the first .

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It can certainly factor into the equation...it does not technically "carry over" but it certainly can factor in.

how

how does that factor in? does this mean there is more equity in the present house? also is there a way to figure equity in our house?