Conflict, Sorrow & Surprises when Selling the Home during Divorce Proceedings.

I have experienced all kinds of surprises while selling homes, specifically distressed properties and Foreclosures.  These experiences have become very helpful as I have pursued my "Divorce Real Estate Expert" credentials in the beautiful Skagit Valley.

I'll be posting some great real life situations involving selling your home in a divorce. Turns out it's not as easy as just selling and splitting the difference.  Most people don't have the funds to hire attorney's during the divorce proceedings.

I'm happy I've been able to help navigate the process of understanding how to use properly help both parties with  no bias to get the house sold so they can move on with their lives.  I received this case study recently. As I continue to increase my credentials to better serve the Family Law Attorneys in Skagit County studying real life scenarios like this help me serve the divorcing parties better.

There's nothing simple about a divorce. It involves more than most people ever imagined.  I'm fair and neutral in the process while working through mediation, collaboration and trials. This makes it possible for everyone to maximize the sale proceeds while satisfying the court order to get the house sold.

A Unique & Common Scenario showing the impact of a unique legal issue called transmutation that can complicate community property proceeding even more.
I'm sharing this with permission from DREI

"Three’s a Crowd in Marriage & Divorce
Your “standard” divorce is already complex. Lives are starting new phases, and finances are starting to get untangled. Diving into who is on title and who is on mortgages is a central part of resetting and moving to the next stage.

Sound simple? When you’re lucky, it can be. However, in many cases, a plethora of variables come into play that further confuse the issue. Often, people other than the married couple end up as partial owners of the house. This can be because someone needed a co-borrower to make enough money, or because credit scores weren’t high enough. Additionally, inheritances (with siblings or others) and investment properties can lead to a complicated situation.

And to further complicate things, there’s a legal issue called transmutation. In family law transmutation can mean changing separate property to Community / Marital Property, or Community / Marital Property to separate property, or any variation of how property is held to a different form of how property is now being held. And it can be done in a number of complicated ways. This can happen via a number of potential factors, including commingling of funds, who pays the mortgage, and who has lived where. It’s a gray area that leaves room for the court to decide.

Here’s a recent example of a case that was impacted by transmutation—the names have been changed to protect the divorcing.

Don and Liz Rivera were a married couple. When Don needed a business loan to start his new company, his brother Scott deeded him onto his house—one he’d owned for a decade. This gave Don the collateral needed to start the business.

Fast forward years later, and the marriage of Don and Liz was falling apart. Liz filed for divorce, and she claimed an interest in Scott’s house. That surprised Don and Scott—Liz was nowhere on the title. Even so, the court ruled that because of several factors, she was entitled to some of the property. They ruled she was due one-third of the value that the house had gained from the time that Don was added to the deed.

Every state is different, but no matter what, you have to be careful when you add anyone—even a best friend or family member—to a deed. You could be creating entanglement and opportunities for transmutation in ways you didn’t expect.

It is best to seek legal counsel before transferring title to property, especially when married or divorcing.

Copyright 2019 - Divorce Real Estate Institute"