Legal Question in Family Law in Mississippi
Property sale
In 2003 my husband and his exwife owned a home in Mississippi her name is on the deed. They divorced in 2004. My husband lived in the home until he lost it in 2005's hurricane Katrina and his insurance company paid off the mortgage. The ex made no claim to the home and the property is not even mentioned in the divorce decree. We would like to sell the property but the ex said she would not allow it as she wants to keep the property as future inheritance for their 3 children. My husband paid for all the upkeep of the home, insurance and mortgage after the divorce. He continues to pay the property taxes. She does not wish to buy him out and she won't hear of us buying her out. She has stated several times that she wants my husband to give her the property. By her leaving the home before the divorce and moving in with her future husband can this be considered abandonment?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Property sale
The divorce decree needs to be revisited because it is very unlikely that such a significant property would have been overlooked. If the divorce provided for the parties to continue to own undivided interests in the property, your husband can pursue a partition action in chancery court. In a partition, the court will sell the property and divide the proceeds if it cannot be divided in-kind. Right now, the market is not really all that good for selling property so you may want to consider holding on to it for a while. However, you must make certain that the ex-wife does not have a right of survivorship in the property. If she does, your husband may want to convey away his interest in the property without his exwife's consent in order to destroy any right of survivorship she may have and to possibly open opportunities for him to later acquire title by tax sale.
Lastly, your husband needs to review his Last Will and Testament or get one as soon as possible, and he needs to consult with a tax expert about the affect of the different options he is considering.
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