Divorce decree implementation

[borreman]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NV

My wife and I filed an uncontested divorce. In the decree it states that my wife shall receive the followinng debts as her sole and separate debts:

The bank loan for the house we purchases together and the car loan.

These 2 assets (house and car) are to become hers 100% as well. She will also receive a final settlement check from husband.

The divorce decree was signed by the judge, and my wife is now asking for her settlement check before she does anything else in the decree. She is saying she is going to contact a lawyer if I dont comply.

However, my point is that I dont want to give her any money until she at least tries to remove my name from these 2 mortgages (house and car) as I dont want to be liable to anything that will belong to her eventually after I sign a quit deed claim (I am guessing I have the right to not sign one right away until my name is off the mortgages?)

What gives in this situation? What if she receives the final check from me, but fails to remove my name from both mortgage and stops making payments? I am guessing the banks will come after me for payments, but would that give me any rights to the assets since they are not transfered to her name only yet?

Any help appreciated.

 

[LillianX]

The only real issue I can think of is that your wife might not have the requisite assets to get a mortgage loan in her name only, and needs the settlement to make her a more attractive candidate for a loan.

If you give her the money and she doesn't manage to get your name off the loans, you can take her back to court, and a judge will either compel her to do so, or force a sale.

 

[mistoffolees]

The only real issue I can think of is that your wife might not have the requisite assets to get a mortgage loan in her name only, and needs the settlement to make her a more attractive candidate for a loan.

That might be the case. I would simply ask her. If that's the case, you can arrange for the check to be delivered to the closing company and only cashed at the same time that she refinances.

HOWEVER, if you force the issue, you may lose. It takes time to refinance a home but there's no reason not to give her the money right away. If she files for contempt, she may therefore get more leniency than you.

If you give her the money and she doesn't manage to get your name off the loans, you can take her back to court, and a judge will either compel her to do so, or force a sale.

Yep. Ultimately, someone has to go first.

 

[borreman]

Ok, thank you. That was helpful and gave me a bit of hope

And I guess, no quit deed claim on the house or car until she actually refinances and gets my name off both mortgages right? She wont be able to sue me because I dont sign these assets to her right away?

 

[LillianX]

There is no way I would ever, EVER sign a quit claim with my name still on the mortgage. If you do that, and she fails to refinance, you are making payments on a house you have zero legal rights to.

 

[mistoffolees]

Ok, thank you. That was helpful and gave me a bit of hope

And I guess, no quit deed claim on the house or car until she actually refinances and gets my name off both mortgages right? She wont be able to sue me because I dont sign these assets to her right away?

You are correct. The court almost certainly would not make you sign a quit claim until your name is off the loan documents.

 

[borreman]

Thank you! I will sleep a little bit better tonight

 

[nextwife]

You can have the quit claim held by the title company who would be closing the refinance, and then released ONLY upon funding the refi and paying off the open mortgage Give them a closing instruction letter to that effect along with the deed, to hold in trust. Similar to how a purchase money mortgage is done- the deed is released as a part of the closing process.

There are plenty of refi's that do NOT take that long. The refi I'm doing is about a four week process to closing, total. I've seen many banks do steamlines refis, recently, and close in less than a month. It really depends upon equity. If she can use a streamlined portfolio loan, no appraisal is needed, and she can close very quickly.

You could also have the title company disburse the cash you owe her, to her, at the closing. That eliminates the "i need the money to do a refi" argument. bEING ON THE DEBT IS A HUGE DEAL, SO i'D REALLY PUSH TO HAVE ALL THESE THINGS IMPLIMENTED AT THE REFI CLOSING.

 

[mistoffolees]

You can have the quit claim held by the title company who would be closing the refinance, and then released ONLY upon funding the refi and paying off the open mortgage Give them a closing instruction letter to that effect along with the deed, to hold in trust. Similar to how a purchase money mortgage is done- the deed is released as a part of the closing process.

There are plenty of refi's that do NOT take that long. The refi I'm doing is about a four week process to closing, total. I've seen many banks do steamlines refis, recently, and close in less than a month. It really depends upon equity. If she can use a streamlined portfolio loan, no appraisal is needed, and she can close very quickly.

You could also have the title company disburse the cash you owe her, to her, at the closing. That eliminates the "i need the money to do a refi" argument. bEING ON THE DEBT IS A HUGE DEAL, SO i'D REALLY PUSH TO HAVE ALL THESE THINGS IMPLIMENTED AT THE REFI CLOSING.

All good suggestions.

However, note that if ex has applied for refinancing and OP has not given her the cash, there's still a chance that the court could hold him in contempt. Not much of one if they do what you're suggesting, but it could still happen. Technically, that would be a violation of the court order.

 

[nextwife]

Applying for a refi means nothing. I've seen tons of loan aps die because the applicant never followed through by providing additional required documentation.

 

[mistoffolees]

Applying for a refi means nothing. I've seen tons of loan aps die because the applicant never followed through by providing additional required documentation.

I agree - and I concur with your suggestions. I'm just pointing out that there are some judges out there who don't understand the process and who might think that applying for a refi is sufficient.

Hopefully, not too many, and if OP does what you suggest, it should protect him and keep him out of trouble with the court (probably > 95% of the time). And even if the court says "you didn't sign a refi, you only signed a conditional refi", he can still fix the problem - and has shown a good faith effort, so contempt is unlikely.

So, I'm not disagreeing with your advice, just saying that with some very unusual judges, it might not be foolproof.

 

[nextwife]

I agree - and I concur with your suggestions. I'm just pointing out that there are some judges out there who don't understand the process and who might think that applying for a refi is sufficient.

Hopefully, not too many, and if OP does what you suggest, it should protect him and keep him out of trouble with the court (probably > 95% of the time). And even if the court says "you didn't sign a refi, you only signed a conditional refi", he can still fix the problem - and has shown a good faith effort, so contempt is unlikely.

So, I'm not disagreeing with your advice, just saying that with some very unusual judges, it might not be foolproof.

I do agree about many judges (and too many family law attorneys) being ill-informed about the process. I'm dealing with one now, in which the judge signed off on an order requiring the house to either be sold or refinanced by ex (mr and new wife have possession, ex wife moved out into boyfriend's house) but the several years of unpaid taxes and judgements they BOTH accrued after she made a unilateral decision to be a SAHP, which appear on title BEHIND the mortgage and would need to be paid off to sell, make EITHER a sale or a refi impossible right now. These matters need to be paid off through the installment payments he l;one has been making, over time, before either a sale or refi can occur.

The mortgage holder has no intention of having these borrower debts paid out of THEIR loan proceeds!

 

[borreman]

Ok, I understand about having the money placed in the hand of the title company and it is a great suggestion. But ex wife will see this as me being a jerk and she still has many things that belong to me (like pictures) that I would like to get back, and she wont give them to me until she gets her check...

So, to summarize, I plan on giving her the check, but will not sign a quit claim until my name is off the mortgage. If she delays the refi too long, I can hold her in contempt at court. Me giving her the money shows good faith and that should protect me.

Am I wrong?

 

[LdiJ]

Ok, I understand about having the money placed in the hand of the title company and it is a great suggestion. But ex wife will see this as me being a jerk and she still has many things that belong to me (like pictures) that I would like to get back, and she wont give them to me until she gets her check...

So, to summarize, I plan on giving her the check, but will not sign a quit claim until my name is off the mortgage. If she delays the refi too long, I can hold her in contempt at court. Me giving her the money shows good faith and that should protect me.

Am I wrong?

I actually disagree with the advice given about the money. The money is a separate issues from the refinances of the house and car, and is part of your property settlement.

I don't think that you have any right to withhold the money, or put it in escrow with the title company or anything similar. I think that you would be in contempt if you did not hand it over.

I agree 100% that you should not sign over the car or give her a quit claim deed on the house until refinancing is happening. That ties directly to the items needing to be refinanced. The money however does not, and needs to be paid unless your divorce decree specifically states that she does not get the money until the refinancing happens.

 

[mistoffolees]

Ok, I understand about having the money placed in the hand of the title company and it is a great suggestion. But ex wife will see this as me being a jerk and she still has many things that belong to me (like pictures) that I would like to get back, and she wont give them to me until she gets her check...

So, to summarize, I plan on giving her the check, but will not sign a quit claim until my name is off the mortgage. If she delays the refi too long, I can hold her in contempt at court. Me giving her the money shows good faith and that should protect me.

Am I wrong?

Nope. You're absolutely right. If you can afford to give her the money, that's the most fool-proof thing to do. Give the quit claim deed to the closing company with instructions that it takes effect only when your name is taken off the mortgage.