Legal Question in Family Law in Iowa
inheritance before marriage
My grandparents died when I was in High School and left my 2 brothers and me some farmland in Iowa. In mid 80's, we sold the land and the money was put into trust funds for us. That money was to be used by my parents, for investing, until their deaths. The money belonged to my brothers and me but the interest/profits was my parents'. I got married in 1987. In 1997 we built a house with a loan from our local bank. In 1998 we paid off the loan with money from my trust fund. My parents invested my money in our house and we paid them interest on that money. In 2004 I was divorced. We were ordered to sell the house and if their was a balance left on the loan from my trust fund, my ex and I were supposed to split the debt. We ended up having $300,000 left on that ''loan,'' so each of us is paying interest on $150,000. I was wondering if this was correct or, since this money was mine long before the marriage, should my ex have been ordered to pay the whole amount back to my trust fund? I think he should, at least, be paying both the $150k AND the interest. Can you help me figure this out?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: inheritance before marriage
Are you saying that your trust fund lent you the money to buy the house? And when you divorced you still owed $300,000 on the property to the trust fund? If so, that debt to your trust fund was incurred jointly as husband and wife so you are both jointly liable to the trust fund for all that follows. You may be able to forgive yourself for your share but he's on the hook for half, not the entire deal.
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