Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Montana
Forced Quitclaim
Is it possible to file a motion to the Clerk of the Court to quitclaim on behalf of someone else who refuses to do so out of spite? My boyfriend and I are about to lose our home to auction because his ex will not quitclaim her name off the house so we can refinance. We can do absolutely nothing without her quitclaiming. She's adamant that she wants our home to be taken away. Our arguement to the court would be that she is refusing just to be mean and that there is no gain in it for her to refuse. There is no equity in the house. How can we get her to quitclaim before we lose this home? We only have three months left before auction. I'd appreciate any help at all. Thank you.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Forced Quitclaim
Unless the Court ordered that the ex's interest in the house is transferred to the husband in the divorce decree, you will be required to return to court to have the property dealt with. If it is ordered in the Decree, filing that with the County Clerk in the County in which the property is located should do the job.
If not, return to the court which granted the divorce, have the matter adjudicated, then file the resulting Order as described. Also, the Court can appoint a special master to sign a deed in place of the wife after the court decrees it.
You may require the help of a domestic relations attorney to get this done.
Re: Forced Quitclaim
Assuming that your boyfriend's divorce with his ex has been completed, the language in the propety distribution section of the final dissolution decree will likely control. Get out the final divorce papers and see what they ordered regarding the ownership of the house. If the decree requires the ex to sign a quit claim deed over to your boyfriend, then it should be relatively easy to get the court's assistance, via a contempt action, to complete the transaction. If the decree (or any other of the dissolution orders) are not clear on the property distribution, the process will be more involved and time consuming.
In any event, you and your boyfriend should contact a competent attorney immedietely to discuss your boyfriend's best course of action. With three months to go until the auction, there is likely still time to obtain the relief you need. However, the time to act is obviously running out.
If you wish to discuss this matter further, call me at 406-442-6350.
Re: Forced Quitclaim
Look at the divorce decree and determine how the property is to be divided and if the ex was required to quit-claim her interest in the property. If so, you could file a contempt action. If she really does have an interest after the divorce (which is odd), then you can't force her to do anything with her interest. However, under the circumstances, you may be able to get a court to decide the issue equitably and broker some sort of resolution to the problem.
Jeff Turner; Oliver Law Firm; 248-7577
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