Living in wife's home

[nalnk]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA My brother's "marital" home is his wife's house (deed in her name). He pays most of the bills since he is the majority money maker. He has made numerous improvements on the house. Added a three car garage, built out a basement, landscaping, tiling, etc. My brother still has his previous home (deed in his name) which he rents out and the rent money pays the mortgage, taxes, etc. My brother told my mom that if he divorces his wife, he will be able to get 1/2 of what the house is worth. I told my mom that this was incorrect and he would get 1/2 of what the house was worth if there was any capital gain on the house from when they got married. So, i'm putting this question out there to see what might be the correct answer. We want to tell my brother to get a consult with a local attorney but he says he's absolutely certain that he will get 50% of the house...... Please let us know. Thank you.

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA My brother's "marital" home is his wife's house (deed in her name). He pays most of the bills since he is the majority money maker. He has made numerous improvements on the house. Added a three car garage, built out a basement, landscaping, tiling, etc. My brother still has his previous home (deed in his name) which he rents out and the rent money pays the mortgage, taxes, etc. My brother told my mom that if he divorces his wife, he will be able to get 1/2 of what the house is worth. I told my mom that this was incorrect and he would get 1/2 of what the house was worth if there was any capital gain on the house from when they got married. So, i'm putting this question out there to see what might be the correct answer. We want to tell my brother to get a consult with a local attorney but he says he's absolutely certain that he will get 50% of the house...... Please let us know. Thank you.

Your brother is entitled to 50% of the marital equity on both homes as is his wife.

 

[nalnk]

Hi, not sure what you mean by marital equity. If her house was worth $200,000 when they were married and it's worth $175,000 now, where is the equity?

 

[Proserpina]

Hi, not sure what you mean by marital equity. If her house was worth $200,000 when they were married and it's worth $175,000 now, where is the equity?

Down the drain.

 

[LdiJ]

Hi, not sure what you mean by marital equity. If her house was worth $200,000 when they were married and it's worth $175,000 now, where is the equity?

Marital equity is the amount of equity that accrued during the marriage. It does not appear that any equity accrued during the marriage, therefore your brother is SOL.

Seriously, any equity prior to the marriage is her sole property.

 

[nalnk]

They were married in March 2008 and according to Zillow.com, the house was worth $303,000. Today, it is worth $ 250,000. So, i guess he is SOL. My brother probably had her refinance the mortgage to pull equity out of the house to put up a three car garage..... he probably pays the bulk of the mortgage! Can he reclaim any home improvements to the house or is he SOL with this too since "marital assets" pay the mortgage.

 

[Ohiogal]

They were married in March 2008 and according to Zillow.com, the house was worth $303,000. Today, it is worth $ 250,000. So, i guess he is SOL. My brother probably had her refinance the mortgage to pull equity out of the house to put up a three car garage..... he probably pays the bulk of the mortgage! Can he reclaim any home improvements to the house or is he SOL with this too since "marital assets" pay the mortgage.

SOL since marital assets pay the mortgage. Why does he think he gets rewarded? Has he let his wife know he is filing for divorce?

 

[LdiJ]

They were married in March 2008 and according to Zillow.com, the house was worth $303,000. Today, it is worth $ 250,000. So, i guess he is SOL. My brother probably had her refinance the mortgage to pull equity out of the house to put up a three car garage..... he probably pays the bulk of the mortgage! Can he reclaim any home improvements to the house or is he SOL with this too since "marital assets" pay the mortgage.

Lets pretend to be his wife for a momment:

I got married in 2008. I owned my home and had a mortgage that I could handle on my own. My husband talked me into refinancing the home so that he could use the money to build a three car garage, which I neither wanted nor needed. Now it looks like we are headed for divorce, and now I have a mortgage that I can no longer handle and a three car garage that I never wanted or needed. Is there any way to make him financially responsible for that debt?

So, you can see that there are definitely two different points of view that could be in play on this one?