College costs and marital home sale. Located in NJ

[njsingledad]

1. My divorce settlement agreement is silent with regard to the payment of college expenses - what can I expect my liability to be absent an agreement?

2. I am on the verge of bankruptcy and desperate. Is there a legal remedy that allows me to force the sale of the marital home that I co-own with my ex?

 

[Taxing Matters]

1. My divorce settlement agreement is silent with regard to the payment of college expenses - what can I expect my liability to be absent an agreement?

Your obligation to support your child ends at the later of when the child turns age 18 or whatever date is specified in your divorce decree or support order. Once the child is 18, the only support you are required to provide is what is specified in decree/order. If the order does not say you must contribute to college expenses then you have no obligation to pay for that.

Is there a legal remedy that allows me to force the sale of the marital home that I co-own with my ex?

Does the divorce decree address this at all? If the answer is no then you are pretty much limited to suing for partition. In a partition action, the court splits the property between the owners, if possible (e.g. large tract of unimproved land), and if it not possible then the court orders the property sold at a court sale. The problem is that a court ordered sale usually results in a sales price significantly below what the property is actually worth. However, the partition action might spur your ex to agree to a normal sale of the home to avoid that result.