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My husband & I have only been married since July 2013 and we are needing a divorce. We don't have any kids & I am wondering if I will be able to keep the house. I have a prenup for $50k of equity I had in my previous house. We sold that in July and made about $60k off the sale. We bought a new house in August with $50,485 down - used from the sale of my previous house. The mortgage is in my name alone, but the title in both. The prenup states my "right to retain [previous] property unless the parties have deeded the property to themselves jointly. While acknowledging the sole ownership of the property and [my] $50,000 separate equity, the parties do agree that any increase in the value of the property be considered to be marital property...All property titled or acquired during their marriage and placed in joint tenancy (in the parties' names) shall be regarded as marital property. It is the parties' understanding that any and all marital property shall be divided equitably
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Regardless of the prenup, given the short marriage, you should be able to recoup at least the $50k (it would likely be considered separate property even if the prenup was invalid). Is the new house titled jointly - that could complicate things based on the language in the pre-nup, but the courts divide property equitably, not equally, so the court could still give you the first $50k even if the property is jointly titled. I'd want to see the pre-nup and discuss the facts to give you a more certain response.
You might be a good candidate for our flat fee uncontested divorce services - for $795, we prepare all the documents and agreements for you and you get up to 60 minutes of additional consultation time with one of our attorneys to ensure that the documents and agreements are prepared correctly (this is especially important where real estate and mortgages are involved) and that you are getting a fair deal. We also can help expedite the process. We offer a free 20 minute initial consultation if you'd like to give us a call. I hope this helps.
Answered on Dec 10th, 2013 at 5:33 PM