Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Division of the Family House

Fair and equitable distribution is the principle that determines the distribution of assets and debts in divorce. Without a review of the purchase contract, I would have to guess as to the nature of the relationship of the parties to the property and the debt on the property, but most likely you are tenants in common and jointly and severally liable on the debt. This would work out to you each having an equal and undivided claim to the property and an equal and undivided liability for the debt. A court would have to make an allocation of the property on the basis of the principle of fair and equitable distribution (which would take into consideration how much parties paid), and that asset would not stand alone, it would be considered as part of the whole of the assets of the marital community with the additional complication of outside parties having interests in the property. Any party may quitclaim their interest in property to anybody, but that may not resolve all the issues (and assuredly does not address the debt issue). I would say that without a negotiated resolution or an determination by a court you don't know who owns how much of the property. The court may assign debt responsibility in the dissolution, but that does not prevent the debt collection from any of the parties, but does provide that a party who pays off a debt allocated to other party may recover against that other party.