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Need help deciphering divorce agreement please

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Nurse2Be

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA

My ex-husband and I have been divorced for over three years. We both still own the house, but I live in it. He is saying that I need to take over the full mortgage payment starting this month. The mortgage is in both of our names.

I pulled out our divorce agreement to see what it says about the residence. It says "the Husband agrees to be solely responsible for all mortgage payments until May 2006. Starting June 2006, Husband will pay one-half of the mortgage until June 2009, at that time the parties shall place the house on the market for sale, and upon sale and closing, to divide any proceeds equally."

It doesn't say anything about who pays the mortgage after June 2009, until the house sells. We are putting it on the market next week. My ex is saying that I am now responsible for the full mortgage amount, but I say that based on that verbage, I could just as easily say HE is responsible for the full amount.

(BTW - I waived child support and alimony because I didn't want things to get messy and I wanted to keep the house as long as I could.)

Do we need to go to court or mediation to get this resolved? I told him that if I pay the full amount of the mortgage, I want to receive more than 50% when we sell, since I would be paying more for who knows how long. I've been paying 60% of the mortgage for a year and a half (had a roomate move in and agreed to pay more than 50% upon his insistence).

Any thoughts?
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA

My ex-husband and I have been divorced for over three years. We both still own the house, but I live in it. He is saying that I need to take over the full mortgage payment starting this month. The mortgage is in both of our names.

I pulled out our divorce agreement to see what it says about the residence. It says "the Husband agrees to be solely responsible for all mortgage payments until May 2006. Starting June 2006, Husband will pay one-half of the mortgage until June 2009, at that time the parties shall place the house on the market for sale, and upon sale and closing, to divide any proceeds equally."

It doesn't say anything about who pays the mortgage after June 2009, until the house sells. We are putting it on the market next week. My ex is saying that I am now responsible for the full mortgage amount, but I say that based on that verbage, I could just as easily say HE is responsible for the full amount.

(BTW - I waived child support and alimony because I didn't want things to get messy and I wanted to keep the house as long as I could.)

Do we need to go to court or mediation to get this resolved? I told him that if I pay the full amount of the mortgage, I want to receive more than 50% when we sell, since I would be paying more for who knows how long. I've been paying 60% of the mortgage for a year and a half (had a roomate move in and agreed to pay more than 50% upon his insistence).

Any thoughts?
I agree that based on the actual verbiage of the order either one of you could be 100% responsible for the mortgage after June 2009.

However, if you have primary custody of the child(ren) then you could file for child support now, and there is nothing that your ex could do about that. It doesn't matter that you waived it in 2006.
 

Nurse2Be

Junior Member
I agree that based on the actual verbiage of the order either one of you could be 100% responsible for the mortgage after June 2009.

However, if you have primary custody of the child(ren) then you could file for child support now, and there is nothing that your ex could do about that. It doesn't matter that you waived it in 2006.
Thank you for your reply. :)

I wonder why his attorney was so vague regarding the house.

We have joint custody. I don't want that to change, as he is a good father and I know I'm a great mother. ;) However, he is not nearly as nice of a person as I, and I am hoping he doesn't try to use our son as leverage. :( I could see it happening...he did it with his first ex. He's a good father, but is terrible to me. He didn't want the divorce, even though he was having an affair with his secretary (I found out after we separated). He likes to make me miserable about every little thing.
 

Nurse2Be

Junior Member
By the way...I like the quote in your signature. I rarely drink, but just happen to be having some Merlot tonight. :)
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
Neither of you pay it quite frankly. Then it can go to foreclosure. I mean really. YOU are the one getting the benefit of LIVING in the house. You are there. He has to find housing elsewhere and live somewhere else. I could see a court ordering you to be solely responsible for the mortgage until it sells due to the fact that YOU are enjoying the roof over your head.
 

Nurse2Be

Junior Member
Neither of you pay it quite frankly. Then it can go to foreclosure. I mean really. YOU are the one getting the benefit of LIVING in the house. You are there. He has to find housing elsewhere and live somewhere else. I could see a court ordering you to be solely responsible for the mortgage until it sells due to the fact that YOU are enjoying the roof over your head.
I guess I should have explained the whole story. Let me sum it up:
*I gave up a great management job and grad school to move three hours away and help him build his business.
*He told me I could finish school after I moved down here and we got married. After we got married, he decided that I had to "wait" to finish school.
*He had an affair with his secretary - whom I hired and trained.
*He was verbally abusive and mentally cruel. When our son was born, the doctors and nurses noticed it and talked to me privately about it.
*We bought a second house - correction; I bought a second house, which he used for his business. He couldn't get a loan because he had six-figure student loans and was self-employed. I bought the 2nd house, which he used for his practice. The agreement was that I'd finish school and we'd share the house (I'd have my office there, too). After we finished renovating the house and opened for business, he "decided" that HE needed all of the space and there "wasn't room for [my] office."

I signed the 2nd house over to him when we got divorced. I was trying to be nice...thinking some goodwill would do us some good. I did not pursue child support nor alimony, although I was entitled to both. He promised me that he'd help me keep the house if I didn't make him pay child support or alimony.

We were married for 8 years. He is a doctor and makes $$$$. I am back in school, because I took time off to help HIM further HIS career.

I don't think asking him to pay 40% of the mortgage is asking much at all, especially since he is going to get 50% of the profit when we sell, even though he has only been paying 40% for over a year and a half. Our son goes to private school - we split the tuition. I pay 100% of our son's health insurance (I am happy to do it, but my point is that I contribute more financially in some ways.).

We've had the house for 10 years and stand to make a decent profit on it. I'm not trying to take any of that from him. I am fine with paying 60% of the mortgage. I am NOT fine with him trying to get out of our agreement and not pay anything toward it, yet still profit at 50%.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
I guess I should have explained the whole story. Let me sum it up:
*I gave up a great management job and grad school to move three hours away and help him build his business.
*He told me I could finish school after I moved down here and we got married. After we got married, he decided that I had to "wait" to finish school.
*He had an affair with his secretary - whom I hired and trained.
*He was verbally abusive and mentally cruel. When our son was born, the doctors and nurses noticed it and talked to me privately about it.
*We bought a second house - correction; I bought a second house, which he used for his business. He couldn't get a loan because he had six-figure student loans and was self-employed. I bought the 2nd house, which he used for his practice. The agreement was that I'd finish school and we'd share the house (I'd have my office there, too). After we finished renovating the house and opened for business, he "decided" that HE needed all of the space and there "wasn't room for [my] office."

I signed the 2nd house over to him when we got divorced. I was trying to be nice...thinking some goodwill would do us some good. I did not pursue child support nor alimony, although I was entitled to both. He promised me that he'd help me keep the house if I didn't make him pay child support or alimony.

We were married for 8 years. He is a doctor and makes $$$$. I am back in school, because I took time off to help HIM further HIS career.

I don't think asking him to pay 40% of the mortgage is asking much at all, especially since he is going to get 50% of the profit when we sell, even though he has only been paying 40% for over a year and a half. Our son goes to private school - we split the tuition. I pay 100% of our son's health insurance (I am happy to do it, but my point is that I contribute more financially in some ways.).

We've had the house for 10 years and stand to make a decent profit on it. I'm not trying to take any of that from him. I am fine with paying 60% of the mortgage. I am NOT fine with him trying to get out of our agreement and not pay anything toward it, yet still profit at 50%.
When you signed the second house over to him, did he refinance it into his own name only?...or are you still on the hook for that loan?
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
I guess I should have explained the whole story. Let me sum it up:
*I gave up a great management job and grad school to move three hours away and help him build his business.
*He told me I could finish school after I moved down here and we got married. After we got married, he decided that I had to "wait" to finish school.
*He had an affair with his secretary - whom I hired and trained.
*He was verbally abusive and mentally cruel. When our son was born, the doctors and nurses noticed it and talked to me privately about it.
*We bought a second house - correction; I bought a second house, which he used for his business. He couldn't get a loan because he had six-figure student loans and was self-employed. I bought the 2nd house, which he used for his practice. The agreement was that I'd finish school and we'd share the house (I'd have my office there, too). After we finished renovating the house and opened for business, he "decided" that HE needed all of the space and there "wasn't room for [my] office."

I signed the 2nd house over to him when we got divorced. I was trying to be nice...thinking some goodwill would do us some good. I did not pursue child support nor alimony, although I was entitled to both. He promised me that he'd help me keep the house if I didn't make him pay child support or alimony.

We were married for 8 years. He is a doctor and makes $$$$. I am back in school, because I took time off to help HIM further HIS career.

I don't think asking him to pay 40% of the mortgage is asking much at all, especially since he is going to get 50% of the profit when we sell, even though he has only been paying 40% for over a year and a half. Our son goes to private school - we split the tuition. I pay 100% of our son's health insurance (I am happy to do it, but my point is that I contribute more financially in some ways.).

We've had the house for 10 years and stand to make a decent profit on it. I'm not trying to take any of that from him. I am fine with paying 60% of the mortgage. I am NOT fine with him trying to get out of our agreement and not pay anything toward it, yet still profit at 50%.
Let me explain -- YOU are the one who is living in the house. YOU are the one who has that ROOF over your head. YOU are the one who should be paying for your living. The fact that you decided not to ask for child support when you could have doesn't matter seriously. You can ask for it now. You could ask for a child support order and have him contribute to medical that is NOT covered by insurance. But YOU are the one who is benefiting more from this house. If you go to court it would NOT surprise me if the judge stated YOU should be paying for the mortgage on the house you are residing ENTIRELY until it sells. Oh and is the roommate a BOYFRIEND? Or girlfriend?
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
Let me explain -- YOU are the one who is living in the house. YOU are the one who has that ROOF over your head. YOU are the one who should be paying for your living. The fact that you decided not to ask for child support when you could have doesn't matter seriously. You can ask for it now. You could ask for a child support order and have him contribute to medical that is NOT covered by insurance. But YOU are the one who is benefiting more from this house. If you go to court it would NOT surprise me if the judge stated YOU should be paying for the mortgage on the house you are residing ENTIRELY until it sells. Oh and is the roommate a BOYFRIEND? Or girlfriend?
In addition, it's a silly thing to be arguing about. They're apparently happy with the child custody situation and everything else is working out. If they put the house on the market at a fair price, it should sell in a reasonable period of time (most of TX appears to be like OK - the real estate didn't boom as much as much of the country and didn't fall as far, either). They stand to make a large amount of money from the sale.

Just pay the bills, get the house sold, and move on with your life. Geez. If child support is needed, ask for it, but that's an entirely different issue and is unrelated to the house.
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
In addition, it's a silly thing to be arguing about. They're apparently happy with the child custody situation and everything else is working out. If they put the house on the market at a fair price, it should sell in a reasonable period of time (most of TX appears to be like OK - the real estate didn't boom as much as much of the country and didn't fall as far, either). They stand to make a large amount of money from the sale.

Just pay the bills, get the house sold, and move on with your life. Geez. If child support is needed, ask for it, but that's an entirely different issue and is unrelated to the house.
The OP is in VA apparently.
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
The OP is in VA apparently.
I guess it was the last thread I was reading which was TX. Sorry.


In any event, she said that they stand to make a lot of money on the sale, so time to focus on getting the house sold and paying her own living expenses in the meantime.
 

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