My husband purchased investment property during the marriage with his brother from his father for about 40k...there was no money put down at all everything was through a mortgage....the property pays for itself..the rental income is approx. $38,000 There is no marial funds being used to maintain the property....Do I have a legal claim to this property considering no martial funds were used to purchase it...I currently live in NY he resides in NJ where the property is located
How is the mortgage paid. In order to be considered sole property the funds that pays for the mortgage onthis piece of property needs to come from a separate account and in your case it will need to have deposits made into the account from a source other than marital property (his pay check).
Sole property is very difficult to prove if you are married, it can be done but it is very difficult.
The term used is intermingling of funds. If at anytime the funds from marital assets were used for this property payments then it is marital property, if not, it is sole property. Who's names are on the deed? This is only one factor.
Hi Thanks for responding...The mortgage is paid from the rental income from the property and is in a seperate account with his and his brothers name on the checking account.....The house has always paid for itself with no need from him or his brother to ever dip into other accounts to cover the cost of the house...The deed is in his name and his brothers....
It will most likey be considered sole property. If this divorce goes to trial (the odds are against this) you could fight the equity of the property, this owuld be the amount it increased in value since the itme it was purchased and the day of the trial. If it has increased, you could try to claim the increase is 1/3 yours, but it sounds like he has his bases pretty well covered on this.
The joint account you mention, is this his and yours (if it is then I have misunderstood everything up to this point) if it belongs to him and his brother then most likely no it will not belong to you unless the funds were somehow intermingled.
As for trying to obtain some of the money in the account or part of the investment property value...you can always try and I am sure you can find an attorney that will be glad to take your money to try, I am just telling you what is most likley going to happen based on how the law is written....you may get lucky and have a judge that hates him and rules against him everytime, you just never know. To be so lucky.
One last question about this if there was money pulled from rental income and used to purchase a car does that then make it co mingled marital money??? And if I am not entitiled to any equity in the house than I would never be responsible if the mortgage payment on the rental property became delinquent, correct?
Wait a minute, this is more information. Did he purchase the auto with rental income, from the rental income account? Was the vehicle titled in his name only, his and your name only, his and his brothers name only? This really changes things.
As for the mortgage, who's name is the mortgage listed in, I thought just his and his brothers, is your name on the mortgage?
I need answers to all of these questions prior to providing you with the property information.