Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Colorado
How can husband represent wife in lawsuit?
My wife and I have owned a
''share'' of a vacation condominium
with 4 other couples. She is listed
on the deed as one of the co-
owners (tenants in common). The
owners intended to but never did
enter into a written agreement
regarding management of the
condo that would have included the
standard clause that would have
surrendered the right to partition by
sale. The other three owners have
sued my wife to force the sale of
the condo as it is to their
advantage to sell the condo as a
unit rather than to sell ''shares'' of
the condo under their right to
partition by sale.. We are defending
our position with the argument that
there is an implied surrender of
right of partition by sale under our
verbal agreement. My question is:
We put my wife�s name on the deed
because it was the simplest thing to
do. One person from each couple
was listed on the deed to show
25% ownership. However, we are
representing ourselves because the
cost of getting legal counsel could
be more than 10% of the value of
our share. How can the lawsuit be
transferred to me (I am not an
attorney) so that I can speak in
court, attend status conferences
etc.? Can this be done by a motion
to the court?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: How can husband represent wife in lawsuit?
Morning,
You cannot represent her unless you are an attorney. If she is the sole party to the suit (meaning you are not listed), then she can only represent herself or get an attorney.
As to the expense for an attorney, 10% of an asset is not excessive. If it was 30-50 or more, then that would be an issue. In the alternative to full representation you could ask about limited representation. That is when an attorney does not make an appearance but advises on law and procedure.
I would strongly advise that you get legal counsel as your partition defense requires more than you are asserting.