Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

How is the house titled? Is their a written sales agreement with a written loan agreement? Was the house purchased AFTER marriage?

Here are your possible outcomes:

1. Everyone acknowledges that this is a community property house and you are therefore entitled to your share of the equity. What that number is depends on the rest of the community estate.

2. The house was purchased before marriage, but the in-laws acknowledge that it was purchased by you and your wife from them. In that case, you and your wife each own a one-half interest in the home and you are entitled to 50% of the equity.

3. The in-laws claim the house was a gift to their daughter and you have been paying rent to live there. In that case, you get nothing, if that's the story the court believes.

As you can see, it is very important that you either have court-admissible evidence proving situation 1 or 2 so that you do not fall victim to #3. If you are missing any written evidence, then you need to secure their testimony through depositions as soon as possible to get their story nailed down. The longer they can think about it, the more likely they can conjure up story #3 and make it believable.

Good luck!!