selling after divorce

General Real Estate Investing
1

Hi,

Please I need help from you vets out there. I bought an investment property 5 years ago with my name and my ex wife’s name on all the papers. I have made every single payments ever since then. However, we got a divorce 2 years ago, the decree simply says “amicable and no contest” (I and the house are in TX, ex now lives in England). Now I have remarried and I have the house on the market, now my questions:

(1) will my ex be required to sign any papers?

(2) if yes and she refuses, will I still be able to sell it?

Thanks,

2

I am also in Texas and I went through the same thing. The house should have been given to you in the divorce papers. All you have to do is take a certified copy of the divorce decree to the county clerk and file it of record. This will remove your ex-wife from the deed. After this is done she will not be required to sign. If the house was not specifically given to you in the decree then she will have to sign at closing. If she refuses to sign then you will have to get an attorney and get a judge to agree to let you sell without her signature. Also, if she is on title at the time of the sale she will be entitled to half of the profits from the sale of the house. Hope this helps.

3

thanks for the advice, I was really confused because the property was not specifically mentioned in the decree and I know she will not sign any document for me because it was a bitter divorce.

thanks

4

Sounds like you need your divorce attorney to go over what you signed. Chris gave you some good basic info to follow up on but there is no subsitute for talking to the guy that helped you through the divorce paperwork in the first place.

5

When I filed for my divorce I went and bought a book from Barnes and Nobles and filed it myself. But since I typed out the decree I knew exactly what I was doing and that was our only asset which she was happy to get out from underneath. Without having it mentioned in the degree specifically it may be difficult to get it closed without her signature.

6

thank you guys, i will go talk to the attorney. my only fear is that she will not sign any paper for me. it was a bitter divorce and the property is selling at a big loss.