Just a question if any of you that went through a D might be able to answer...

D still not final, hammering stuff out. WH has agreed to let me keep the house, but I must sell it in 8 years and give him 1/4. This being because the alimony he will be paying me would be used to pay the mortgage.

Lawyer said I should accept that deal, or WH will want me to buy him out now and I can't afford to.

WH refuses to walk away from the house. We jointly own it.

If I chose not to sell in that time frame, then I have to find out what the house is worth and give him 1/4.

If I remarry before the 8 years are up, alimony of course ends, but I still have to sell the house or keep it and pay him off. I don't like that one bit. Here I would be paying the mortgage on a house with another husband, but I would have to sell?!

Does this sound right, or am I getting screwed? I hate having a timetable on how long I can live in my home.

catgirl-
Is the house paid off? When I consulted a L, they told me that I would have to pay half the equity of the house, if he wanted it. It would be arranged that you would have to pay half the equity based on the current value.

Also, I do not know where you are from, but here (IN) you can actually have it set up so that you do not pay anything until the kids are 18, or the house is sold.

Also, who cares WHAT the CS is being used for: mortgage, clothes, school, doctor bills, etc. That does NOT mean that it necessarily all goes toward the house.
So you might want to look into it more....

Sadmo

As I understand it, what the court is saying is that 3/4 of the equity of the house is yours and 1/4 of the equity of the house is his. For the next 8 years you get to stay in the house without paying him off to get him out of your life. However, in 8 years time, you can either a) sell the house, pay off the mortgage, and 3/4 goes to you and 1/4 goes to him...or b) have the house appraised; appraisal minus mortgage equals equity; pay STBXH 1/4 of that equity amount.

Let's put in some numbers.

Let's assume your house is currently worth 200k and you have a mortgage of 120k. That means right now, it's worth 80k equity, right? And of that, 60k is yours and 20k is his. Soooo...to get him off your case RIGHT NOW you'd need to refinance 140k, pay off the mortgage and pay him his 20k. He's gone and can't tell you what to do anymore, and the house is yours free and clear.

OR...

...you keep the current mortgage financing, and his alimony is used by you to pay the mortgage every month. (BTW, he pays you--you pay the mortgage company. DO NOT LET HIM PAY THE MORTGAGE IN LIEU OF ALIMONY because if he gets pissed and stops paying, you go into foreclosure, and it takes MONTHS for them to garnish and collect via the courts. Garnish him now to pay you alimony, you use the money to pay the mortgage so you know it's paid on time.) This goes on for 8 years and in 8 years time, the house is now worth 230k. The mortgage is 110k. The equity in 8 years time is 120k, or 80k to you and 40k to him. In 8 years time, your youngest is off to college and you two sell the house for 230k. You take your 80k and use it as a down payment to buy yourself a nice townhouse...he takes his 40k and buys a fishing boat.

If I were in your shoes, I would arrange it so that you would pay 1/4 the equity BASED ON THE CURRENT VALUE...and that has to be done WHEN THE KIDS ARE 18. That way, you are paying his what his equity was WHEN HE LEFT THE MARRIAGE and not giving him the chance to gain equity after being outside of marriage. Furthermore, I'd try to word it so that when the youngest kid turns 18, that you HAVE THE OPTION to either pay him off or sell the house AS YOU DECIDE.


--CJ