House rights when getting divorced

[Zigner]

Yet he admits the need.

Yep - I don't get it.

 

[LdiJ]

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

HI I have a question. I bought a house a couple years ago. Now, I'm considering getting remarried. I'm know that the house is pre-marital property, but I'm hearing that if they pitch in on repairs and such they could claim part of it. Also, the person pays around 700 in bills every month but it doesn't go to anything specific like the mortgage payment. However, if we ever got divorced I wonder if they could claim part of my house in a divorce fight since they pitched in like that?

I have about 60k in equity in the house right now; I recently got an appraisal, so can't I use that and the real equity I have in the house (the house has gone up considerable due to market forces) to show how much of the house was 100% mine before we got married?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks

You do not need a prenup if you have good records.

Whatever money you earn once you get married is marital property (the same applies to your spouse). Therefore, whatever either one of you spends on the house and house payments while married becomes marital property. Therefore the equity that accrues during the marriage is marital property.

Since you have a recent appraisal and can prove your current equity (keep those records in a safety deposit box or fire proof safe), then you can establish your premarital equity. Therefore, if you divorce you will only have to deal with the difference between your premarital equity and the equity that exists at the time of the divorce. However, the longer you are married the less that will matter. If you are married for 30 years and divorce, its going to be very different than if you are married 3 years and divorce.

Example: House worth 200k when you get married with 60k equity. 30 years later the neighborhood has changed and the paid off house is only worth 60k. Odds are you are going to have to split that 60k with your spouse. Why? Because marital assets paid off 140k of the mortgage on the house.

Other Example: House worth 200k when you get married with 60k equity. You divorce 10 years later and the house is worth 300k and has 240k in equity. You will get the first 60k and then you will split the remaining 180k 50/50.

 

[Zigner]

You do not need a prenup if you have good records.

No disagreeing with anything you said, except for this.

 

[HighwayMan]

You need to hire an professional lawyer, they will gives you best advice's.

As opposed to an unprofessional lawyer?

 

[LdiJ]

No disagreeing with anything you said, except for this.

This thread is a few weeks old, but its fine to have differing opinions on the need for prenups. I am not a big fan of them because they are rarely done so properly that they cannot be broken...and when they are done that properly it generally does damage to the relationship between the two parties. I generally think its better to just keep separate property separate. That is my personal opinion. Yours may be different.

 

[Zigner]

This thread is a few weeks old, but its fine to have differing opinions on the need for prenups. I am not a big fan of them because they are rarely done so properly that they cannot be broken...and when they are done that properly it generally does damage to the relationship between the two parties. I generally think its better to just keep separate property separate. That is my personal opinion. Yours may be different.

Fair enough. I think it's very situation-specific. I'm generally for them, but I do understand that others feel differently.