Legal Rights to Property after Divorce

The court cannot transfer matrimonial property in the name of one spouse to the other. Instead, the court will award money to the spouse who has no title to cover his or her share of the property. However, the parties may agree and take steps to transfer such property themselves in and as a result of a marriage contract. The Family Law Act 1996 also grants the following residency rights: If you made payments on the mortgage, you don`t need to have signed any official documents to prove you have an „interest“ in the house. It is important to seek advice from a professional lawyer on what you are entitled to in the event of a separation. The parties may agree to divide the property they hold without the assistance of the court. Before dividing real estate in your divorce, you need to determine whether the property is separate or common. All other States are non-Community States or States with equitable distribution. In these states, the wealth and income accumulated during marriage are divided equitably. In order to determine a fair and equitable distribution for both parties, the court will consider many factors, such as the earning potential of each spouse as well as the duration of the marriage. In addition, they will take into account the financial situation of each spouse after divorce. It can be difficult to decide who gets the matrimonial home, especially if children are involved or if your name is not on the mortgage or rent payments. The issue of property rights is just as complicated when a couple is not married.

If you are in a relationship and have been living with your partner for several years, contributing to bills and making payments, do you have rights to the house if you break up? This blog post covers everything you need to know about your property rights after the breakup. The only way to remove your name from the mortgage after divorce is for the spouse who keeps the house to refinance the mortgage in his or her name. This process can take some time, as the bank looks at that spouse`s income and assets to determine if they can refinance the mortgage. It may take some time for all your properties to be fully listed, but it will help your lawyer assess your situation faster. A lawyer can help you organize your files and provide you with legal advice. A lawyer can also help you fill in gaps in the records you collect and may use certain legal tools (commonly referred to as „discovery“) to discover information from your spouse. There are two different types of property for the purposes of divorce. Property purchased by the couple during the marriage is called matrimonial property. Property that belonged to you before marriage or that was simply a gift from someone other than your spouse is called „separate property.“ Marital property may be divided between both spouses. In this case, you can register your rights of marital residence with the Land Registry.

This protects your financial interest in the home, meaning the home cannot be sold, transferred, or mortgaged without your knowledge. Segregated property is any property that you or your spouse owned before the marriage or that you received during the marriage as a gift or inheritance. The court may order the sale of the apartment. If one parent has custody of the children, the court may delay the sale (usually until the child graduates). The court may also leave the house to one of the spouses. This is decided by everything about equitable distribution. Each state has its own laws on how property is divided between parties involved in a divorce or the dissolution of a marriage between two people. However, most states can be divided into states of Community ownership or non-Community States.

Joint property refers to all property accumulated during the marriage. Unless you have mixed your separate property with matrimonial property, or separate property is converted to matrimonial property, your separate property remains your property after divorce, as will your spouse`s separate property. The court will confirm that your separate property belongs to you and that your spouse`s separate property belongs to your spouse. Many states have joint property laws that require spouses to divide all property acquired by both spouses equally during their marriage, with a few exceptions. South Carolina is a state of fair partition; That is, the family court judge hears the testimony of both spouses and then decides what he or she considers to be a fair and equitable division of matrimonial property. If there are no dependent children living at home, the house can be distributed according to the property rules discussed earlier. Until the divorce is final, the house belongs to the owners listed in the title deed. Thus, if both spouses are listed as owners, it is actually illegal for one spouse to lock the other out of the house.

However, in cases where the spouses cannot be nearby, the courts often temporarily order possession of the home to one of the spouses while the divorce proceedings are pending. A fair distribution means a fair distribution. If matrimonial property is divided equitably, it will be divided between both spouses as fairly as the court deems possible. While this does not guarantee that the court will decide that the property should be divided equally (50-50), this usually happens. However, if you mix your separate property with matrimonial property, the court may treat your separate property as matrimonial property in whole or in part and divide it with your spouse. This rule generally does not apply to real estate, particularly the marital home, where a separate contribution of assets upon purchase generally remains your separate property. You can recover your separate asset contribution after the sale of the wedding home. In this case, the person who does not own the home may have the right to stay short-term or even make claims against the equity in the property. For example, let`s say a couple has been living together for three years. A person owns the house and has his name on the mortgage. However, the other party pays the bills.

In the event of a split, the person whose name appears on the mortgage has a greater right to the house. The person whose name is not on the agreement could take the argument to court, but it can be time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to prove. The most common questions about property rights after a divorce are about the house, pets, vehicles, and wedding gifts. Home ownership after divorce is determined by a few different factors. The most important factor is custody, for example to which custody of the child has been transferred. The parent who has received custody of the child is usually the party who will keep the home. With a few important exceptions, „matrimonial property“ is any property that you or your spouse acquired during the marriage. Marital property also includes most of the property that you or your spouse acquired „individually“ during the marriage. Marital property typically includes things like your bank accounts, homes, shops, cars, furniture, appliances, stocks, bonds, jewelry, annuities, retirement plans, and IRAs acquired during marriage.

For example, if a husband owns shares worth $10,000 titled in his name and purchased with his wages earned during the marriage, these shares are matrimonial property. The court does not have the power to transfer all or part of the shares to the wife. However, it may take into account the factors listed above and grant the wife a cash bonus based on the value of the stock. The court is not required to allocate 50% of the share value or a fixed percentage. The amount of the indemnity and the terms of its payment will be determined taking into account all of the above factors. This area of law is very complex. If there are property interests, the advice of a lawyer is essential. If the property was refinanced during the marriage, the property remains a separate property.

However, if the names of both spouses appear on the refinancing documents, it can be argued that the spouse who owned the property gave 50% of the property to the other spouse as separate property. If it is a separate property, the court cannot assign it to another spouse. The following is not matrimonial property, even if you or your spouse acquired the property during your marriage: The advantage of marriage is that you are entitled to a share of the property in the event of divorce or separation. Marriage entitles both parties to certain assets, and many couples acquire several joint assets over the course of a relationship. This includes the marital home, but also extends to joint bank accounts and pension contributions. This can be even more complicated in cases involving high net worth individuals.