Can I sell my house?

[beastieboys3927]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee
I just received an Opinion and Memorandum from a judge regarding my divorce case. It was a 2yr marriage, and I purchased my home prior to the marriage. The judge ruled the home to be marital property, along with several other errors in his ruling. We are going to appeal it. The judge awarded my wife transitional alimony, allowing her to remain in the home while I continue to pay for mortgage and all expenses, until the sale of the house, at which point she will receive 100k from the proceeds. Our first move is to file a Stay of Execution in order to remove her from the home, and stop alimony (which has been going on for the last two years when she first filed for divorce). The next move will be a Notice of Appeal.

Question: Is it possible to put the house on the market, sell it, and freeze her proceeds (100k) in an escrow account until the appeals process is final? That will allow me to get rid of the home and essentially stop paying her alimony.

Thanks in advance.

J

 

[adjusterjack]

Did you have a lawyer for your divorce case?

Do you have one now?

If you didn't and don't you will only dig yourself a deeper hole.

It's almost a given that the judge who made those awards isn't going to stay them to allow you to boot your ex out of the house and stop paying her alimony.

And if you waste your time on that, and the appeal deadline passes, you're done.

Again, do you have a lawyer?

 

[HRZ]

Even if you think you are right, which you are not, your selling situation will attract just buyers at a super discount from your view of fair market value .

IT reads like you went to war without a paid gladiator ....get one now and get the appeals timely .

 

[beastieboys3927]

Sorry, yes I do have an attorney. This has been a very ugly case subsequently following a 2yr marriage prior to wife filing for divorce back in 9/2015, and submitting an Order of Protection against me which judge awarded for 1yr. After realizing court's bias toward herself, wife brought additional false accusations against me alleging abuse, and submitting into record pictures of herself depicting horrific bruising (which incidentally surfaced in 4/2016, ironically with coinciding dates on images). This was followed up with a motion to amend for punitive damages from her newly hired attorney claiming Assault & Battery (initial attorney pulled out due to the obvious fraudulent actions by wife). Because of this, I had to hire 3 expert witnesses (Digital Forensics Expert, Movie Make-up artist expert, and Medical Pathologist/Examiner) to debunk her story, which we successfully did. However, the judge being biased, took sides with the woman, stating "husband was least credible". Keep in mind, wife had no witnesses, no police reports, and no medical records to corroborate her story. Wife failed to bring in a rebuttal against our Medical doctor who opined images were "fake" due to several characteristics either missing or blatantly wrong in the bruising on specific parts of her body. Again, as part of his ruling, he determined my pre-marital home was "gifted" to my wife (not true), whereby she will remain in the home (as she has since the filing of divorce) while I continue to maintain mortgage and all expenses, until the sale of the house, at which time she receives $100k from proceeds. Judge completely disregarded the $145k down payment (equity) I used when purchasing the home months prior to marriage. Needless to say, the judge erred on several issues. Now we are left to appeal it.

Our next steps will be to file a Stay of Execution, which the trial judge will naturally deny, and then be sent up to the appellate court for a decision. The "Stay" is to give possession back to husband, and so-called "transitional alimony" stop. This will run parallel with our Appeal.

This goes back to my original question: While we appeal the case, and let's assume the Stay of Execution is unsuccessful, I'm curious if I can sell my home asap, and freeze wife's proceeds in an escrow account until ruling from Appellate court comes back? This will at least get her out of the house and stop the alimony.

.... And yes, I am posing the same question to my attorney, but wanted to post it out in forum to hear other's opinion since it's such a complicated matter.

P.S. - I'm in the process of writing a book on my case. What I described above is just the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks,
J

 

[Zigner]

You are represented - your best source of information is your attorney.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee
I just received an Opinion and Memorandum from a judge regarding my divorce case. It was a 2yr marriage, and I purchased my home prior to the marriage. The judge ruled the home to be marital property, along with several other errors in his ruling. We are going to appeal it. The judge awarded my wife transitional alimony, allowing her to remain in the home while I continue to pay for mortgage and all expenses, until the sale of the house, at which point she will receive 100k from the proceeds. Our first move is to file a Stay of Execution in order to remove her from the home, and stop alimony (which has been going on for the last two years when she first filed for divorce). The next move will be a Notice of Appeal.

Question: Is it possible to put the house on the market, sell it, and freeze her proceeds (100k) in an escrow account until the appeals process is final? That will allow me to get rid of the home and essentially stop paying her alimony.

Thanks in advance.

J

You can file for a stay of execution, but that does not mean that the judge will grant it or remove her from the home. If you have an attorney you should be addressing your questions to your attorney. If you plan to file an appeal without an attorney then you may be destined for failure. Appeals are not DIY projects.

 

[not2cleverRed]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee
I just received an Opinion and Memorandum from a judge regarding my divorce case. It was a 2yr marriage, and I purchased my home prior to the marriage. The judge ruled the home to be marital property, along with several other errors in his ruling. We are going to appeal it. The judge awarded my wife transitional alimony, allowing her to remain in the home while I continue to pay for mortgage and all expenses, until the sale of the house, at which point she will receive 100k from the proceeds. Our first move is to file a Stay of Execution in order to remove her from the home, and stop alimony (which has been going on for the last two years when she first filed for divorce). The next move will be a Notice of Appeal.

Question: Is it possible to put the house on the market, sell it, and freeze her proceeds (100k) in an escrow account until the appeals process is final? That will allow me to get rid of the home and essentially stop paying her alimony.

Thanks in advance.

J

The judge ruled the house was marital property.
The judge ruled that she could continue living in the marital home, and it does not seem that there was a mechanism in place for her to refi in her name, etc., nor was there a date by which the house should be put up for sale.

It would be a very bad idea just to put the house up for sale under these circumstances. The fact that you want to do this pending an appeal yields some insight into why the judge thought the abuse allegations were credible.

I'm not saying you beat your exwife. I am saying that your view of how things should be could easily be seen as that of someone who is not nice.

You want to set a course of events that presumes the appeal will be successful before the appeal is final. Not all appeals are successful, so that would be a bad idea.

 

[beastieboys3927]

You can file for a stay of execution, but that does not mean that the judge will grant it or remove her from the home. If you have an attorney you should be addressing your questions to your attorney. If you plan to file an appeal without an attorney then you may be destined for failure. Appeals are not DIY projects.

Yes, I am working through logistics with my attorney. I understand the judge could rule against stay of execution, and probably will. Just trying to determine the best strategy with the help of my lawyer and members of the forum.

 

[Zigner]

Yes, I am working through logistics with my attorney. I understand the judge could rule against stay of execution, and probably will. Just trying to determine the best strategy with the help of my lawyer and members of the forum.

The members of this (or any) forum are strangers to your case. You are UNWISE to muddy the waters by bringing in opinions of well-meaning but uninformed individuals. In other words - you have an attorney, listen to your attorney.

 

[beastieboys3927]

The judge ruled the house was marital property.
The judge ruled that she could continue living in the marital home, and it does not seem that there was a mechanism in place for her to refi in her name, etc., nor was there a date by which the house should be put up for sale.

It would be a very bad idea just to put the house up for sale under these circumstances. The fact that you want to do this pending an appeal yields some insight into why the judge thought the abuse allegations were credible.

I'm not saying you beat your exwife. I am saying that your view of how things should be could easily be seen as that of someone who is not nice.

You want to set a course of events that presumes the appeal will be successful before the appeal is final. Not all appeals are successful, so that would be a bad idea.

I completely understand your perspective in regards to being seen as "someone who is not nice". If you saw the case we built in our defense, the proof is overwhelming that she committed fraud. The Order states the house be put on the market, WITH FULL cooperation of wife. There is no mechanism for wife to refi, nor any date by which house goes on sale. Our first order of business is to remove wife from home and stop alimony, which has essentially been going on for two years already, on a 2yr marriage. My attorney suggested "weaving" into our Stay of Execution, (as an alternative) a request which complies with judge's ruling, and sell the house asap, HOWEVER, with the stipulation that wife's funds go into escrow pending the appeal.

I'm meeting with my attorney this afternoon to discuss logistics.

Thanks for your help.
J

 

[beastieboys3927]

The members of this (or any) forum are strangers to your case. You are UNWISE to muddy the waters by bringing in opinions of well-meaning but uninformed individuals. In other words - you have an attorney, listen to your attorney.

I understand. Thanks for the advice.

J

 

[Zigner]

Why not just buy your wife out now for the $100k?

 

[LdiJ]

Why not just buy your wife out now for the $100k?

He feels that the house is his separate property because he bought it before they got married. Therefore he does not want her to get any money from the sale of the house.

 

[Zigner]

He feels that the house is his separate property because he bought it before they got married. Therefore he does not want her to get any money from the sale of the house.

Right - so instead he'll likely pay thousands upon thousands of dollars fighting it and could STILL have to end up paying her the $100k in the end.

 

[LdiJ]

Right - so instead he'll likely pay thousands upon thousands of dollars fighting it and could STILL have to end up paying her the $100k in the end.

Yep...its highly likely that he is throwing good money after bad, but its apparently what his attorney thinks that he needs to do.