Question about my house..

[Tiger]

My wife moved into my house after we were married.
We have been married for 5 years, but not it looks like divorce is unavoidable.
My questions is... Would there be any circumstance that she could possible take my house from me?

[TC]

How long did you have the house before the two of you were married?

Did you ever put her on the deed or mortgage?

Did she contribute to the mortgage payments in any way?

TC

[Tiger]

Thank you so much for your response..    I was just getting some overall information.
I really do not know what I am going to do.
I had the house for 5 years before we got married.
She has never made a payment and has not been added to the mortgage.

[TC]

Well, I'm not an attorney, but it would appear to me that if you can show the house was your posession for that long before the marriage and that she was not put on the mortgage or deed....you can make a pretty good argument for keeping it yourself.  On the other hand, unless she didn't work at all during the marriage, anything she contributed to the marriage financially can also be considered as income that went toward the home....and that will to some extend have to be considered.

Key in this or any similiar situation is to find yourself a good attonrey  and stick yourself to his/her ass like glue.  Yes, I know it is expensive, but if you want to keep the house, it will be a worthwhile investment on your part.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but this really isn't my area....hopefully someone with a better background will come along and give more.

TC

[m_t]

Thank you so much for your response..    I was just getting some overall information.
I really do not know what I am going to do.
I had the house for 5 years before we got married.
She has never made a payment and has not been added to the mortgage.

The mortgage doesn't matter. It's whether she was added to the title/deed does.

If not, it's unlikely she can touch the house. HOWEVER... depending on the other assets/debts and what your overall property settlement is, if you owe her money that you can't otherwise pay her - you may need to pony up the house to settle. Either taking out a second, selling or signing it over to her (depending on the amount of $$$ we're talking about).

[Lee Borden]

I share m_t's guess that you're relatively unlikely to have to share the house, as well as her reluctance to make an all-ness statement about it. When you ask whether there are "any circumstances" that might result in her getting all or part of it, the answer is yes. But in general, after a 5 year marriage, you keep the house.