Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

Re: property ownership?

You can find the relevant statute on the web C. 208, s. 34. You have an interest in all property that the court may award you, based on the length of marriage, etc. None require receipts or who paid for what, except maybe for the down payment (apparently not an issue in your case) if she raises it as an issue.

The main problem will be the capital gains tax on the sale, but if it is rolled over into a more valuable property, it may not be an issue. If it is an issue you will want to reduce your "basis" - what you paid for the property less the expenses for transfer of title, major improvements, etc.

If you are keeping the condo as investment property (i.e., renting it), you do not get the rollover or federal one-time exemption, and keeping track of the costs and expenses becomes more important.

If you are buying another house to live in together, you really should do it as a married couple. It may depend on your and her credit standing whether that is possible. If she refuses, the statute gives you protection. The shorter the marriage after buying the property, the less you may be entitled to, depending on the other things the court has to consider.

If the issue is the distribution of the proceeds from the sale of the condo and you are considering a divorce in the near future, you should retain a lawyer to make sure the proceeds don't disappear before the court can decide the matter. Filing a divorce petition triggers an automatic order restraining the parties (you and your wife) from getting rid of any assets until them court rules on who is entitled to what.

Re: property ownership?

It would be worth your while to spend the time to trace and document the contributions made by you and others to this asset if only as settoffs to capital gains for income tax purposes at the time of a future sale of the asset. You might wish to retain an attorney to discuss conveying this type asset into a trust, also. Good Luck!

Re: property ownership?

The property is a marital asset. Your wife's name might be on the deed, but you have -- it seems -- put considerable SWEAT EQUITY into the property. That is as good as money! If you had not done the work, your W and her M would have had to pay someone to do the work.

Make a list of each item you repaired and upkept. Try to think where you got the tools to do the work. Were they yours? Did you need to buy them? If the money came from your joint account, figure you spent 50-50. And so on with the house acct and the credit cards. Do not try to have it perfect. You never will. It will be more expensive to have the court figure it out than it is worth. Think 50-50 as much as possible unless you can prove otherwise. Receipts are wonderful. They are excellent proof.

I assume you do joint tax returns. You will have to come up with a BASIS of the house. All those receipts must be used to figure out the BASIS.

Original cost of house to your mother in law.

Add the cost of repairs and upkeep.

The cost of conversion to condos.

SUBTOTAL OF COST OF THE PROPERTIES you are selling. (Clearly the condos might not be sold in the same year, so arithmetic and accountant will play roles here).

If you have realtor fees, add them to the SUBTOTAL to get SUBTOTAL #2. And so on. Fees, taxes, etc.

Then subtract the final SUBTOTAL from the total sale prices of all condos. The result will be the final proceeds.

Why are you thinking of divorce after only 4 years of marriage? Where is the commitment? Try to straighten out the marriage first.