Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

marital home

I am currently seperated from my husband due to domestic vilence. I had to get a restraing order to protect my self.

I am in the process of fileing divorce paperwork.

y concern is the home we live in . when the house was purchased I paid 31,000.00 deposit to lower the cost of the home and 76,000. as the down payment when the home was finaced. total 107,000.00 leaving 110.000 and this was my money from the sale of a home I had prior to msrriage. I would like to keep the home, I have sufficient funds through voc rehabilitaion to pay till my retraing is done. how can I go about getting special circumstances and what forms do I need.


Asked on 2/29/04, 2:31 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: marital home

First, I would like to try to convince you that divorce with real estate of this value is not a do-it-yourself proposition. Sure, lots of folks do their own divorces, and it actually works out okay many times when there is little property to divide and no major legal issues such as whether a spouse has a separate-property interest in the house.

The major legal issue here is that you probably own a substantial percentage of the house as your separate property, possibly as much as 100% (your husband may have obtained a small interest through use of community funds to pay the mortgage).

Determining the correct amount of your separate interest and presenting it to the court is not a job for a non-lawyer, especially if your husband retains a lawyer, which he probably will.

If you don't have enough cash to pay a lawyer prior to your property settlement, many divorce lawyers will advance your fees against your ultimate settlement.

If you find and hire the right attorney, you will be thankful in the future.

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Answered on 2/29/04, 12:27 pm


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