Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts
real estate
I have been seperated from my wife since January of 2005 and
recently divorced as of Aug 29th of this year.
I have been paying child support and my wife has had exclusive use of our house. I have not lived there since Jan 2005.
She is getting re-married and the house is up for sale. She says that if the house doesn't sell by the time she gets re- married and moves in with her new husband on Jan 07th of 2007, I should be responsible for paying 1/2 of the mortgage until it sells.
Since I was not ordered by the court to pay for half the mortgage and she has had exclusive use of the property, am I legally bound to pay half of the mortgage payment until the house is sold?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: real estate
Assuming she has been ordered to pay the mortgage by the court, that order remains in effect, and you need pay nothing. If the court papers are silent as to who pays, but she has been paying simply because she has been living there, something has to be worked out.
Presumably, under the court order, she still has exclusive use of the property, even if she chooses not to live there. That is her problem until the court says otherwise.
Re: real estate
It depends upon what the divorce agreement states. Not knowing what was in the agreement makes it impossible to answer the question. Normally, a divorce agreement will bring finality to the question of the house. Sometimes, an agreement will allow a wife to remain in the house without buying out the husband's interest. But this is generally limited to a period of years. When the time is up, then the house will be placed on the market for sale and the proceeds divided up according to the agreement. You need to tell me more about what your agreement says.
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