Ask Me Help Desk - Premarital or community home?

My sister owned a property in Upstate NY 7 years before she married this guy with no assets,
No prenup was made,no kids
He made some improvements to property 2-3 years before marriage,claiming he spent 40k he loaned from bank
Then they married in 2007,June
At this point,about a year after marriege, he pushed her to add him to the deed claiming false pretenses like if she would die then he will avoid probate or the STATE of NY taking away her home?
She was and is very unaware of the RE laws so after many months of distress,to avoid fights,she did add him on the deed
Then 2 years later she spoke with a lawer who told her to get him off the deed
He agreed to be taken off and sign the deed back to her,giving back his half probably feeling guilty about it
Now they talking divorce
Would he be able to claim anything?
Equity?And how much?
Reimbursements of money spent before marriage?
Mortgage in her name paid like this:
7 years before marriage obviously her separate money
After marriage she paid mortgage from her pay check(community money?)- for 4 years now-
Morgage(always) and deed(now) in her name alone
NYS mentioned so EDP state
Thank u

'Claims' in divorces are not clear the way they are in other courts. In divorce court, you can argue on and on and pay lawyers more than you have in assets. Given that NY is not a community property state, what happens will depend on how good their respective lawyers are and how much money they throw at them.

He can trot out all his receipts for 40K worth of work? Not that it will necessarily hold much weight. She got him off the deed. She has always paid the mortgage. They will show what they each made during marriage and then duke out who spent how much on what. Most of that might go on in a conference room with 2 lawyers. A judge might recommend mediation, which they can do without going to court. My divorce involved real estate, and we agreed on what to split in about 2 minutes, copied some friend's papers with no lawyers, and the divorce took about 4 minutes, standing in an assembly line.

I'm in NY.

A lot of this depends on the Attorneys and how knowledgeable they are. He is at minimum entitled to half of the increase in equity in the home since the marriage. In this economy there may not be any increase in equity.

I am surprised that there is a mortgage in her name alone and she was able to transfer the property into joint names. I trust that was supervised by an Attorney? The norm is for mortgage companies to refuse and require refinancing.

His Attorney will argue that his contributions to the property increased its value. Again, in this economy that may be moot.

Who paid the mortgage is immaterial. The legal theory is that she paid the mortgage and he paid other expenses which she would/could have paid if she didn't pay the mortgage.

His Attorney could argue that the transfer of the deed back to her alone was the result of pressure put on him by her and attempt to claim half the house due to her false pretenses.

A variety of decisions could be handed down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joypulv

He can trot out all his receipts for 40K worth of work? Not that it will necessarily hold much weight. She got him off the deed. She has always paid the mortgage. They will show what they each made during marriage and then duke out who spent how much on what. Most of that might go on in a conference room with 2 lawyers. A judge might recommend mediation, which they can do without going to court. My divorce involved real estate, and we agreed on what to split in about 2 minutes, copied some friend's papers with no lawyers, and the divorce took about 4 minutes, standing in an assembly line.

Joy, this is not correct in NY. Who paid the mortgage is immaterial.

I was divorced in NY. That's how it works.

In NY I would never write my own divorce. Maybe it worked for you. It's complicated and I've seen bad mistakes and omissions come back to bite a person after a few years.

I meant to say, the mortgage was always in your name.
When there are no kids, I am a big fan of avoiding paying much for legal representation.
When I divorced (17 yrs ago?) our combined assets were a house with not much equity and maybe 75K.
I saw no reason to give the first lawyer I talked to a 5K retainer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joypulv

I meant to say, the mortgage was always in your name.
When there are no kids, I am a big fan of avoiding paying much for legal representation.
When I divorced (17 yrs ago?) our combined assets were a house with not much equity and maybe 75K.
I saw no reason to give the first lawyer I talked to a 5K retainer.

As long as there aren't pensions, 401-K's and the like, nothing to come back and cause a problem, you made the right decision. I've seen people do their own divorces, not address these assets and get murdered later on in life - financially, that is.