Stuck
“Dear Steve,
I am seeking to divorce my husband who I have found out is cheating. We live in a no fault state so that is not an issue. However, though the title to the house is in both our names, the main mortgage is in my husbands. I say main because we qualified for the house from a local program that has given us no interest loans (in addition to the main mortgage) for as long as we live in the house.
I need him to leave for my peace of mind. I would like to remain in the house with our child as on my salary alone, I can just afford the bills. However, we now are upside down on our mortgage and I am stuck.
What can I do, trying to be fair, to get him to leave. I dont want to move because the house is in my daughters school district.
Stuck”
The Answer:
Dear Stuck,
When you say you can “just afford the bills” that does not leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling. Just getting by is a plotted path towards financial disaster, especially owning a home. What’s the plan when something breaks? I doubt you’ll be able to build an emergency fund as you are “just” getting by.
Hum, why not just ask him to leave and if he won’t then evaluate what your priorities are. If your priorities are to get you and your daughter out of that environment then talk to your divorce lawyer about your soon to be ex-husband taking over the house and you move out to rent in the district.
This might be a better time to consider breaking your financial ties together, consider bankruptcy, hand the house back to the bank since it has no equity and get alimony and child support from your husband along with a fresh start. That is not an unreasonable plan based on where you might want to move forward with your life from this point.
Consider this, if the main mortgage is in your husband’s name and you guys split and he falls behind on the mortgage or stops paying it, the house gets foreclosed on and you get evicted.
