I have a question about missouri marital property laws.
My husband and I have been married for almost 6 years. Before we married he rented a home with option to buy. We knew before we married that I would be filing bankruptcy so the house was purchased in his name only. The actual purchase of the house did not occur until 6 months after we were married. My bankruptcy was filed 8 months after we were married. Since that time he has repeatedly refused to try to refinace the house in both of our names. However, since things have gone very bad in this marriage he has decided to refinance on his own and still in his name. He believes the house is his and expects me and my daughter (from a previous marriage) to leave.
Financially, I have consistently earned more money than he does and up until about 2 months ago my paycheck went into his checking account. (He also has repeatedly declined to have a checking account together). He paid the bills from his account and shared little to no information with me regarding our financial standing. I now have an account in my name only. He seperated the bills in a way that he felt was fair without any input from me.
This morning he had the house appraised. He says to refinance but I don't know if he's in the process of putting it on the market or not.
Is the house considered marital property? Can he sell it and force me and my daughter out before a divorce occurs? I have not yet filed and to the best of my knowledge neither has he. We both still live in the home.
As long as the house was purchased during the marriage it's considered marital property . This is from the Missouri revised Statutes .
3. All property acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage and prior to a decree of legal separation or dissolution of marriage is presumed to be marital property regardless of whether title is held individually or by the spouses in some form of co-ownership such as joint tenancy, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety, and community property. The presumption of marital property is overcome by a showing that the property was acquired by a method listed in subsection 2 of this section.
Thank you very much for the response. I guess my real concern is that it was a rent w/option type purchase dating prior to marriage and that that might factor in the determination of marital property or not.
I've decided it's probably in my best interest to talk with an attorney and find out just what he can or can't do. Scheduled an appt for Wednesday. Then it just waiting for the blow up that's sure to come when he finds out I'm not quite living in the dark like he seems to think I am.
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