Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

martial house

My Ex husband and I are divorced he still lives in the martial home and upon selling it I get 1/2 off the equity. So my questions is that he wants to do home improvments and wants me to pay for 1/2 or deduct my cost upon the sale of the house, am I obligated in anyway to pay for or allow him to deduct 1/2 of the cost from me?


Asked on 5/23/07, 9:47 am

3 Answers from Attorneys

martial house

Your obligations are controlled by the Judgment of Divorce. You should speak with your divorce attorney for clarification.

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Answered on 5/23/07, 10:00 am
Regina Mullen Legal Data Services, PLC

Re: martial house

This is an issue for the court to decide. if he wants to make improvements, that's fine, but if there are improvements to the house, he can't use that as a way to drain your resources.

It may be that he gets the benefit of all improvements if he pays for them. That seems like a fair outcome.

On the other hand, if his improvements are required for the house to sell at all, that might mean that it's fair to require you to contribute after the fact.

In any event, have your attorney check the case law on this one for possible solutions so you have some options, THEN take it to mediation.

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Answered on 5/23/07, 12:29 pm
Audra Arndt Audra A. Arndt & Associates, PLLC

Re: martial house

You are not obligated to pay for 1/2 of the home repairs. The court may require you to pay part of them, especially if they improve the value of the house, which you would benefit from when it sells. But be careful, your Ex may be scamming you into paying him money for repairs when you don't know the true cost of the repairs, or whether they are truly beneficial to raising the value/saleability of the house.

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Answered on 6/01/07, 8:14 pm


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