Divorce question

What is the name of your state? Texas

One of my friends, he has been married for five years. He and his wife are citizens of India, married in India and they are H1B (work visa) status. Their marriage is not working out and they are planning to divorce. He has the following questions,

1. He bought a house ($100,000) a year ago with a mortgage solely on his name and he is the only one who has paid all the mortgage payments for the whole year as she is a home maker (not working). And now she may not sign the papers to sell the house. She is planning to go back to India. What are his option to sell the house? Can he sell the house without her signature? Though she did not pay any penny, but title company made her sign the papers along with him when he bought the home.

2. They have a 3 year old boy who was born in USA (US citizen). Who gets his custody provided father lives in US and mother lives in India after divorce?

Thanks for your time and advise,

Great day,

adapa said:

What is the name of your state? Texas

One of my friends, he has been married for five years. He and his wife are citizens of India, married in India and they are H1B (work visa) status. Their marriage is not working out and they are planning to divorce. He has the following questions,

1. He bought a house ($100,000) a year ago with a mortgage solely on his name and he is the only one who has paid all the mortgage payments for the whole year as she is a home maker (not working). And now she may not sign the papers to sell the house. She is planning to go back to India. What are his option to sell the house? Can he sell the house without her signature? Though she did not pay any penny, but title company made her sign the papers along with him when he bought the home.

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Texas is a community property state. Therefore the house is just as much hers as it is his, despite the fact that the mortgage is soley in his name. Therefore she is going to have to be involved in the sale and will be entitled to 50% of the equity.

2. They have a 3 year old boy who was born in USA (US citizen). Who gets his custody provided father lives in US and mother lives in India after divorce?

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That will depend entirely on the judge. Normally I would say that the parent remaining in the US would be the parent most likely to get custody. However, since the divorce would make it impossible for the mom to remain in the US, and since the mom has obviously been the primary caretaker of the child its quite possible that the judge would feel that it would be in the best interest of the child to move with mom.

Thanks for your time and advise,

Great day,[/QUOTE]

Thank you very much for your quick reply.

Can he take Power of Attorney (POA) if she agrees to sign? If he can, what is the procedure to get the POA?

What happens if she leaves the country before they sell the house or without she signing the POA? Will he ever be able to sell the house? What will be his options then? Quit paying mortgage and loose the house???

About the kid, actually he is the primary caretaker of the boy and the boy is more attached to his Dad than his mom? How does it influence the court's judgement? And the other thing is she cannot stay here as she is on dependent visa and I don't think that INS will let her stay based on the Kid's citizenship?

Thanks again,

how can he be the primary caretaker for the child when mom is there for ALL of the child's awake hours tending to his needs- and dad is working/away from home for likely more than 8 hours a day- which is over half of the child's awake time???

Dad gets the boy ready and drops him in day care (8-6 M-F full-time) and picks him on his way back...Mom goes to full-time school...

adapa said:

Dad gets the boy ready and drops him in day care (8-6 M-F full-time) and picks him on his way back...Mom goes to full-time school...

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Then mom is not a full time homemaker, she is a student. There is a huge difference.

Again however, the fact that mom will not be permitted to remain in the country is going to be a serious factor. Particularly if your friend is the one who wants the divorce.

They both want the divorce...in fact she is insisting on it more..

regarding home, can he take Power of Attorney (POA) if she agrees to sign? If he can, what is the procedure to get the POA?

What happens if she leaves the country before they sell the house or without she signing the POA? Will he ever be able to sell the house? What will be his options then? Quit paying mortgage and loose the house???


Thanks,