Hello Rita,

I am sorry to hear that you are dealing with this problem.

It seems from review of your post that you have several questions focusing upon the transfer of the property, the attached lien and you interest in the property.

Let me attempt to assist you with these issues.

When you husband provided you with the Interspousal transfer of the house he basically Quitclaim Deeded the property to you which means he gave you want legal title right he may have in the property to you. Such a transfer does not have any affect upon the existing mortgage as well as any other liens attached to the house at the time of the transfer. If he placed a lien on the property prior to the transfer to you that lien is still attached to the property until paid by someone. However, in your post it seemed that he attached a lien after the transfer, which actually confuses me because that should not be possible. A person can not attach a lien to property that he does not own, but if that is what happened all you need to do is notify the lien holder that your husband did not own the property at the time he attached the lien and the lienholder should release the lien.

If you have a written agreement giving him 50% of the property value then you are bound by the terms of the written agreement. However, if he transferred the property to you without any other written document, then you are not obligated to give him 50% based upon what you shared with me.

Unfortunately you would not be entitled to the 20 months of payments you have been making unless there is a written agreement stating differently. The home as the marital home is a marital debt which you both are jointly and individually liable to pay to the lender.

Lastly, absent a written loan document for the $20,000, downpayment for the house purchase you would not be able to recoupe that amount since again it went to purchase the marital home mortgaged in both of your names.

I realize that some of my responses may not be exactly what you had hoped to hear but sometimes as an attorney I must give correct information that does not always make people happy. It is NOT a reflection upon my person views or opinion and I hope you understand that when rating my post.

I hope you have a good day,

Dan

Hello Rita,

Sorry my earlier response went to your spam folder. I hope the issue has been resolved.

Try to agree on the value of anything worth more than a specific agreed amount -- say $100 or $500. If there is a house, a business, or anything that is difficult to value, get an opinion about that from some agreed outside authority. For example, for your house, pick a Realtor who is familiar with your neighborhood. Or, for antiques, you can hire a professional appraiser. You may need an actuary to value a pension and an accountant to help you value an investment. The key is that is you both agree on the value then there is no need to hire anyone to value the assets.

I hope this helps and thank you for allowing me to respond to your question.