icandothis
New
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 4
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Hello everyone,
New here. Hoping for some guidance and advice to hopefully ease my mind. My primary concern is that I owned my home for two years prior to our marriage and one year during (I'm still here, he filed and moved out) and he is threatening to take 50% of the equity. I continued to pay ALL the mortgage payments, utilities, and taxes on the house while we were married. He also says he can make me refinance to get his half that he is ENTITLED to. While married, we remodeled the kitchen and basement and he says he will also go after more because of the "sweat equity" he put into it. I have receipts to show I paid for 80% of the remodel...does this help? He also had his own place before we married, a condo that he is moving back into. I am in Macomb County...can anyone tell me what I am up against here?! I have a 12 year old daughter from a previous relationship that I have to support.
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mistake#2
Platinum
Reged: 07/19/06
Posts: 3136
Loc: Florida
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He can rightfully ask for 50% of equity since the time you two got married regardless of what payments who made or whose money was put into the house. However he would also be responsible for 50% of any debts against the house during that time also. You are also entitled therefore to 50% of the equity in his condo since the date you both got married. You would both need to refinance if you can't pay each other off without doing so.
Sounds to me like a bargaining chip - tell him to leave yours alone and you'll leave his alone, otherwise your both going to be spending money for appraisals & more attorney fees. He can't take the equity from the two years you had previous to getting married, but it will be a pain to have to split up the equity into the three seperate years, especially noting that there has been improvements made to the home.
MI is a 50/50 state, any debts & any property purchased during marriage is to be split evenly. Your income was his income and vice versa so it doesn't matter if you have receipts showing you paid 80%, unless your still paying that debt.
Get to an attorney and file - don't let him push you into any corner and take everything that is being said as a bunch of crap unless your attorney tells you otherwise.
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**2 1/2 weeks to go...should start counting down the days**
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KGrow
Platinum
Reged: 01/27/06
Posts: 3109
Loc: Colorado
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New York is not a community property state. Even if it were, the house is not marital property since you bought it prior to (a very short) marriage. Your response to his rediculous threat to take half should be to thumb your nose at him. Get a lawyer too.
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icandothis
New
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 4
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Thanks for the advice. He has already filed and I answered. Unfortunately, his condo is now worth about $8,000 less than he paid for it! He thinks he can make me pay 1/2 of that for the loss he may endure, one day, if he sells it (he is moving back in). Also, we leased the condo to someone during the marriage....am I entitled to half of the profits from that lease?
I have another big question: before we married I had $15,000 worth of credit card debt and while married he opened credit in his name and took the debt from me (b/c I had a really high interest rate and that was the deal since he wasn't paying anything towards my mortgage or utilities). Now he says he's entitled to give me back all $15,000 b/c he can prove it was mine. If the 50/50 rule applies to the debt to then wouldn't he be responsible for half of it?
Thanks for all your help!
I don't know what to do about getting a lawyer. I have offered mediation but he thinks it's not going to work...and wants me to pay the whole fee! It's less about the money and more about not having to listen to him be condescending and angry all the time. He is emailing me constantly and in the emails he has some big balls I never saw in person! If I got a lawyer, at least I wouldn't have to deal with the emotional abuse.
Thanks again, it helps to know I'm not the only one.
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mistake#2
Platinum
Reged: 07/19/06
Posts: 3136
Loc: Florida
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Don't know about the credit card debt - does he have proof it came from your credit cards & for purchases before the marriage? If not then he probably doesn't have a leg to stand on - but you will be responsible for 50%.
You need to get an attorney and make him get his own. I used to live in Kent county and I don't recall how far montcalm is from there. Most attorneys charge 850 - 1600 in retainer, might be less with no children involved. You need to get an attorney even if you don't think you can afford it, it will cost you more in the long run if you don't. Also they can suggest mediation - but that costs $$ too, about $200 per hour.
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**2 1/2 weeks to go...should start counting down the days**
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KGrow
Platinum
Reged: 01/27/06
Posts: 3109
Loc: Colorado
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You guys have created a pretty big mess for a 1 year marriage. That was generous of him to put your debt in his name. It must have occurred to him as he was reading all the fine print and signing the paperwork that doing so would make him at least partially responsible for the debt. I don't think he'll be successful in claiming it is still entirely yours.
Edited by KGrow (08/22/06 11:06 PM)
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icandothis
New
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 4
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I'm sure he can prove that he transfered debt from my credit cards to his, and that's fine. But, he also paid on that debt, instead of paying anything towards our mortgage and utilities, and I think I should be able to deduct what he's already paid and pay back only what is still owed.
Also, we rented out his condo for 6 months during our marriage and he made $6,000 from this. I think it's reasonable to take half of that off of my total debt to be paid back. Does that sound right?
We are going to mediation, which here in Michigan, only costs $150. I am, however, worried about doing mediation without a lawyer. Hopefully, the mediator knows the law better than we do!
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icandothis
New
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 4
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Yes, we did create a big mess! I hope we can figure it out by ourselves in mediation, otherwise this one year marriage is going to cost us more than we thought! I really just want to do what's fair and reasonable. From past conversations with him though, I think he is trying to hurt me financially because I had told him I wasn't in love with him anymore. 24 hours later, he asked for a divorce-- not me. I would have opted for counseling first, but I guess a bruised ego runs deep. He must have been out of love too, to ask for a divorce that fast, eh? It's too bad things are turning out the way they are. Thanks for the opinions and advice.
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mistake#2
Platinum
Reged: 07/19/06
Posts: 3136
Loc: Florida
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Settlement Mediators in MI are usually attorney's that take that on to make more $$.
I'm sure they can tell you the law, but they are not going to give you advice on how you should proceed or what you can get. That is what you pay an attorney for.
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**2 1/2 weeks to go...should start counting down the days**
Edited by mistake#2 (08/24/06 11:21 AM)
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