My ex husband and I signed a land contract with my in-laws and they refuse to give us both a copy of the land contract, which was signed in front of a notary,, mind you this was back in 1999. The house is paid for,, through our divorce in 2003 the judge ordered that it was joint tenants in common, I have the children, but I moved out due to harassment by his mother, so my ex husband still lives there.. Now she is mad at him and wants to sign the title over to his brother, what can I do to protect my rights and my ex's right, through where we pay taxes to it states on there both our names and then in parenthesis is states land contract. What can we do to stop this and prove our case that it was sold under land contract and quit her harassment? Furthermore, how do we get the title from her? Also, do I have any rights still to this house? My name is still on the taxes? She is telling me because I left the home that I forfeited my rights to that house is this true?

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Originally Posted by tinea

My ex husband and i signed a land contract with my in-laws and they refuse to give us both a copy of the land contract, which was signed in front of a notary,,, mind you this was back in 1999. The house is paid for,,, through our divorce in 2003 the judge ordered that it was joint tenants in common,, I have the children, but I moved out due to harrassment by his mother,, so my ex husband still lives there..Now she is mad at him and wants to sign the title over to his brother,, what can I do to protect my rights and my ex's right,, through where we pay taxes to it states on there both our names and then in parenthesis is states land contract. What can we do to stop this and prove our case that it was sold under land contract and quit her harrassment? Furthermore,, how do we get the title from her? Also, do I have any rights still to this house? My name is still on the taxes? She is telling me because I left the home that I forfeited my rights to that house is this true?

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Was the land contract filed? If so, you would get a copy from the Town Clerk (or whatever office handles the filings). The only way to prove there is a land contract is to locate it - the notary may or may not have a record that it was signed (different States have different requirements) but his/her records would only indicate that he/she notarized your signatures on a land contract - no more and no less.

When you say the divorce judge ordered it held as joint tenants in common I assume you mean you and your ex-husband as tenants in common? There is no law that you have to live in a property you own. You are free to come and go.

Your ex-mother-in-law can't change the divorce Judge's ruling - what proof of the land contract did the divorce Judge have in front of him/her?

You need an Attorney at this point and your ex-mother-in-law needs to stop giving legal advice.

What I'm not clear on here is whether you have paid off the contract or not. That is a key point.

The first step I would take is to go to the county clerk and see exactly how the property is listed. If its NOT listed in you and your ex's names as joint tenants in common, I would then show the clerk the divorce decree and ask what needs to be done to correct the deed.

If you can get the deed corrected, that will forestall your MIL from transferring the property. If you can't get it correctted, then you may have to sue to get the property recorded correctly.