subject: If I'm Not Officially Divorced, Can I Live in My Home and Have My Ex Pay the Mortgage? [print this page] If I'm Not Officially Divorced, Can I Live in My Home and Have My Ex Pay the Mortgage?
What happens when you are the owner of the house? When the house is only in your name, your ex does not have to pay anything and is not responsible for the house. In cases of financial difficulty, the court could order the non owner to make the payments until the divorce is completed. What happens when your spouse is the owner? Basically, if the house is theirs, then they are financially responsible for the payments. Because of this, they can also evict you at any time. In certain cases the court may award you temporary living privileges. Generally this is when children are affected and need a place to live. In this instance you would be living there and your ex would be paying for it. Having said that this would only be temporary and at some point you would have to move out or the house would be sold depending upon what the court decides.
The moment the divorce is finalized, the court papers will declare who will own the home or if it is required to be sold. If you will be getting the property and buying out your ex, you will be exclusively responsible for the payment. The next complex issue is how the transfer is conducted. A quit claim deed will usually show transfer of interest but does not safely remove someone's name from the loan. The only way to solve this is by refinancing. Technically if the property hasn't been refinanced, the other party still is responsible to pay the mortgage and if payments are made late or not made at all, it will harm their credit. If this is the case, they may make the payments anyway, so their credit is not affected.
If there are no extraordinary circumstances, plan on these results. Anytime the house is owned by both of you, you are both legally responsible for the payment until the divorce is finalized. If you own the house, you are liable for the payment, and if your ex owns the house, they are responsible. If you'd like more information on Atlanta family law, consult Atlanta family lawyers that work with these cases consistently. They will have the ability to tell you what legal rights you have and if there is a legal way to have your ex pay the mortgage payments during the divorce process.
