Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

Divorce

When I was divorced 3 years ago I retained my home. The mortage on the home is in mine and my ex husband's name. He signed a quit claim deed. I have been paying the loan and have never been late. He is now threatening to take me to court to force me to refinance the mortage to get his name off the mortage. We filed bankruptcy in 2003 about 5 months before the divorce so that is on my credit record and I do not believe I could get refinancing not to mention the amount of money it would cost me to do this. Can he force me to refinance.


Asked on 7/22/06, 5:34 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Marc Reisman Rosenblum & Reisman, P.C.

Re: Divorce

In order to accurately answer your question, I would need to see your divorce decree. If yours was an uncontested divorce, the details of your obligations should be spelled out in your Marital Dissolution Agreement. If you had a contested divorce, the obligations will generally be determined by the language used by the judge in his or her Final Decree. If there is no mention of you being required to refinance, it is my belief that you do not have to. The terms of the agreement should prevail. I can not promise you that a judge would not find from an equitable standpoint that you should at some point get his name off the mortgage, particularly if you stop paying the note timely. But I am not familiar, without doing additional research (which I have not done in answering you question), with any authority the court would have to force you to refinance where the obligation is not in the court's order. Good luck.

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Answered on 7/31/06, 12:40 pm
LAURA TEK LAW OFFICE OF LAURA TEK

Re: Divorce

If it is not specifically stated in your divorce decree that you have to refinance the house, then you do not have to and he cannot force you to. That was his mistake whgen he got divorce. He should have made you do it then but he didn't so he's SOL.

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Answered on 7/23/06, 2:27 pm


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