During My Divorce Proceedings, Is There a Way for Me to Keep the Home and Let My Ex Pay the Mortgage?

By : George Mitchell Sr.

What happens when you are the owner of the house? If the home belongs to you alone, your ex does not have to pay anything and is not answerable for the property. In the event of financial difficulty, the court can order the non owner to assist with the payments until the divorce is settled. What if the house is theirs alone? Typically, if the house is theirs, then they are financially responsible for the payments. Having said that, they can also kick you out at any time. Sometimes the court might award you temporary living privileges. Ordinarily this is when children are associated and need somewhere to live. In cases like this you could be living there and your ex would be responsible for the payments. Regardless this would only be temporary and eventually you would have to leave or the house would be sold based upon what the court rules.

After the divorce is settled decided on, the paperwork will state who will own the home or if it has to be sold. In cases where you will be getting the property and buying out your ex, you will be solely responsible for the payment. One additional tricky factor is how the transfer is handled. A quit claim deed will often show transfer of interest but does not take away someone’s name from the loan. The only way to accomplish this is by refinancing. Technically if the property hasn’t been refinanced, the other party remains responsible to make payment and if payments are made late or not made at all, it will affect their credit. If this is the case, they may make the payments anyway, so their credit is not harmed.

When there are no extraordinary circumstances, plan on these outcomes. In cases where the house is jointly owned, you are both responsible for the payment until the divorce is completed. In cases where you own the house, you are liable for the payment, and if your ex owns the house, they are legally responsible. If you’d like more information on Atlanta family law, consult Atlanta family lawyers that work with these cases consistently. They are able to tell you what rights you have and if there is a legal practice to have your ex provide the mortgage payments during litigation.

While conducting the research for this article, I learned a lot about divorce attorneys and how to choose a great divorce attorney at DivorceLawyersofAtlanta.com.